


Their Melody

by Nova16



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: And they fall HARD for each other, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Beta acquired :3, Everything's the same except ALBW and TFH happen before LA, F/M, Headcannon that Legend and Fable are siblings, However if I ever did know that I will warn you in the tags, I am very open to constructive criticism, I don't write major character death, I enjoy blindsiding you guys but not to that extent, I hope you all end up loving Melody as much as Legend and I do, I shouldn't even be writing this since my own real book is nowhere near finished, Legend is the last Link to be picked up, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Please don't feel afraid to point out any mistakes I've made!, Probably should clarify something after recent chapters, So Legend and Marin are 18 when they meet, Takes place right after the events in LA so Marin's loss is still fresh in his mind, This got darker than I expected, also, please read the tags guys, probably, probably should have tagged it as angst beforehand
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:13:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 112,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27824311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nova16/pseuds/Nova16
Summary: Link has been relatively unbothered by his adventures. That is until he woke up stranded in the middle of the ocean with the only thing left from the woman he loved. Their infant daughter named Melody.He made a promise to Marin to leave his adventurous life as a hero behind to devote himself to his new family however he had no choice but to break that promise when he was coerced into waking the Windfish. Doing so cost him far more than he was willing to part with. Now, for Melody's sake, he was determined to stick to that promise. Even if eight heavily armed men show up at his door with stories of a shadow that was wreaking havoc across time. There was no way he was ever going to leave Melody's side. Why was that so hard to understand?
Relationships: Four (Linked Universe) & Shadow Link, Legend (Linked Universe) & Everyone, Legend (Linked Universe)/Marin (Legend of Zelda), Link/Marin (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 276
Kudos: 316





	1. Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events of Link's Awakening, Link returns to Hyrule with his infant daughter intending to retire from the life of a hero but the goddesses may have a different plan for him as eight men knock on his door asking him to join yet another world-saving adventure. No thank you.

An owl cried out in the early morning. Wincing at the sound, it took all of Link’s will power to not reach for his bow and shoot it out of the sky. It wouldn’t matter if he killed it anyway, it would never be the same owl who deceived him all those months ago. It was all in the past now. _Remember, you’re not the messenger of awakening anymore. It’s over._

Pain shot through his heart as his thoughts drifted back to that cursed island against his better judgment. To the white sandy beaches with monsters and coconut trees, to the beautiful girl with red hair who made him feel like he was home for the first time in his short life, and…a melody.

He shifted on the cold, uneven ground where he sat underneath a large oak tree. None of it was real, he reminded himself for the sixth time that day. It wasn’t real. After finally finding his happiness and hope for a bright future he woke up. That future, that life, that happiness…it was all gone. He lost everything that day. Well, almost everything. Maybe she was proof it had been at least a little real. Or maybe the Windfish took pity on him and that’s why he hadn’t woken up on that raft alone.

As if sensing his thoughts the small bundle in his arms shifted. Two little eyes and a nose peeked out from a tightly wrapped blanket. Her brown eyes. His nose.

The baby began to whine softly the way she did when she was tired but wouldn’t fall asleep.

“I’m sorry, Melody,” he whispered as he cradled her closer to his chest. Maybe it was too cold out for her, he knew he should have made a fire even with the threat of attracting wild animals. “Go back to sleep. We’ll be home soon. Just a few more hours and we’ll head out again, okay?” His daughter continued to whine.

Link sighed and rested his head against the tree he was sitting under. _Your mama was so much better at this than I am. She should be the one here instead of me._ He started to hum a song Marin had taught him to get his daughter to fall back to sleep and he continued to hum even after her whines turned into quiet snoring.

Marin.

Her smile and laughter had been infectious. Something he wished he could have kept in a bottle like a fairy. The sun had always seemed brighter when she was around. Water was clearer. Flowers bloomed more brightly colored than he’d ever seen. And music…nothing sounded sweeter than the very melodies that came from her heart.

But now the world seemed so cold and bleak.

He may as well have killed her himself.

Melody now has to grow up without her mother. Why couldn’t he have left it alone? He could have ignored the owl. Thrown his sword out to sea. He had nothing but his damned curiosity to blame.

Link held Melody closer to his chest as his eyes burned but tears wouldn’t fall. _Huh? Have I finally cried myself dry?_

The sun took its sweet time rising as he counted each star as it disappeared from the sky. When was the last time he let himself sleep? A few days he knew for sure, definitely not since they came ashore from the ship that had found them at sea. If Marin were here she’d give him her look of disappointment but she wasn’t and he couldn’t bear the thought of losing Melody either. After all, what if he woke up and she ended up being a dream just like the rest of them?

The closer they got to the house that used to belong to his uncle the heavier his footsteps became. Reality was beginning to settle in. There he was: Link. Veteran adventurer. Savior of Hyrule time and time again. Holder of the triforce of courage. A single father at all of 19.

Many people in the kingdom didn’t care for him—he was sure some of his old wanted posters were still hung up in a few towns. They had always looked down on him because of his age, maybe because the previous hero had been so young when he let Ganon nearly destroy Hyrule decades ago. Most people didn’t believe him when he spoke of his own adventures, they called him childish and immature, a kid playing pretend. Now, he could just hear a different set of whispers.

Irresponsible.

To clarify, he was never bothered by what the townsfolk said about or to him, he knew the truth and that’s all that ever mattered but it wasn’t just himself he had to worry about now.

“Zelda’s not going to be happy,” Link grumbled. Melody looked up at him and cooed at his words and his heart melted all over again. He brushed a blond lock of hair off of her forehead. “Don’t worry, she’ll fall in love with you the second she sees you, little songbird. It’s _my_ head she’ll likely put on the chopping block.”

A toothless grin broke out on his daughter’s face so he stuck his tongue out at her.

“Sure. Laugh at papa’s misfortune why don’t ya?” His house came into view a little ways off. “I was only supposed to be gone a month or two at the latest you know.” He continued to talk to her as she cooed and babbled back as if she were taking part in the conversation.

"And here I come back a year later with no answers to the questions I’m sure she has.” There were cobwebs on his windows and his garden looked like a plant graveyard. The hinges on the door still squeaked as he let himself in his—their home.

He slipped and nearly lost his footing as he stepped on a pile of letters that had been shoved under his door. Most of them were sealed with the royal crest meaning they were from Zelda, others he recognized the foreign scripts from Labrynna and Holodrum.

More letters waited for him on his kitchen table—none of them were in envelopes, they looked like they had been written there. He shifted Melody in his arms who squeaked in protest at the sudden movement. He apologized softly and picked up the letter on top.

_Dear Mr. Hero,_

_It’s been a year now since you’ve gone missing. Hilda has told me I should accept the fact that you may be gone but how can I? You would probably scream in embarrassment if I ever admitted this to you in person but you’re the closest thing I have to a family, I can’t lose you too._

_But I’m sure you’re fine. Aren’t you? You probably just got sidetracked and roped into another adventure and are out there right now saving lives. At least, that’s what I keep telling Princess Zelda… I think she’s starting to give up on you, Mr. Hero. This morning she decided she was going to call off the search for you. I wanted to argue with her but she was using her ‘Queenly’ voice and I don’t think this was an easy decision for her._

_…Please come home soon,_

_Ravio_

There was a splotch of ink after the last paragraph like Ravio had wanted to write more but decided against it.

Link sighed heavily as he skimmed through the older letters, each of them saying roughly the same thing—begging him to come home soon. He ended up throwing the letters into the pile at his door telling himself he’ll deal with it later, but he had more important things to deal with at the moment. Like getting Melody settled in, it was past time for her to take a nap after all. Then again, being on the road for so long hasn’t been the best to keep a baby on a schedule.

He deposited his bag, sword, and shield on the kitchen floor and carried Melody up the stairs to where his bedroom was.

“That stupid merchant,” the tips of his ears were still a little red from reading Ravio’s letter. “The closest thing he has to a family? I’d rather eat a leever whole than hear you _ever_ call him _uncle Ravio_. Do you hear me, young lady?” Melody yawned in response.

“I mean it!” He laid her in the center of the bed and surrounded her with pillows and blankets. She still couldn’t quite roll over on her own but he was a paranoid person at heart. “You’ll break your papa’s heart if you do.”

It must have dawned on her that he was trying to put her down for a nap because her face screwed up and she started to cry and reach for him. The sound really did break his heart.

“I know. I know. Papa’s the worst,” he said as he went and retrieved an ocarina from his wall. “A big ol’ hypocrite for making you sleep when he doesn’t.” Her crying turned into sniffles almost as soon as the notes from his instrument filled the air.

The slow tune of _Zelda’s lullaby_ nearly put _him_ to sleep instead. When he was sure she was finally out he placed a feather-light kiss on the top of her head and left the room.

Link was exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. He wanted nothing more than to collapse on his couch and not move for about a month but…

“This place is a disaster.” While it’s painfully obvious Ravio has been here on numerous occasions, he must not have touched anything other than the table. His house was in roughly the same shape as it was when he left it last year. Magic items and weapons were scattered all over the place, it was probably the least child-friendly house in all of Hyrule.

He picked up a stray fire rod and examined it. “Maybe I should move all this stuff to the cellar. Not like I’ll ever use it again.” His days of adventuring were over, that was the promise he had made to Marin just before Melody was born and he was going to stick to it. Maybe he’ll go back to the old blacksmith and see if he could get his apprenticeship back.

Yeah. He gazed blankly down at the rod in his hands. That was respectable enough of a profession that he could retire from being a hero with his head still high.

Someone started banging on his front door, shocking him out of his thoughts. It took him half a second to move—fire rod still in hand. Whoever they were, they were going to wake up Melody with all that noise and that was the last thing he needed.

Kicking the pile of letters aside he threw open the door to glare at the tall, armor-clad person making all the noise.

Link recognized the royal insignia first—a knight from the castle it seemed—he immediately got into a fighting stance. He may have been cleared of all charges since he never _actually_ kidnapped Zelda all those years ago, but coming across a knight still made his nerves stand on end.

“What do you want?”

The knight was frozen mid knock with his hand raised in the air and a look of surprise on his face—no doubt due to the glowing red fire rod inches away from his nose. Link noticed the knight was wearing a long blue scarf around his neck which made him falter a little because a: it was summer and armor was plenty hot on its own and b: wasn’t at all part of the uniform and Zelda gets pretty strict about these sort of things.

Someone cleared their throat behind the knight and pushed him out of the way.

“See? I _told_ you we should have let Hyrule be the one to knock!” A blond kid no older than fourteen or fifteen with a loud voice exclaimed. Link let the rod in his hand lower a few inches. The way the kid said _Hyrule_ rubbed him the wrong way like he was referring to a single person as opposed to the kingdom.

As the kid went on about how the knight—who was apparently a captain—nearly got his face blown off, Link managed to better assess the situation. There were about seven—no, eight men all of varying ages and manners of dress, all scarred and travel-worn. All armed to the teeth.

 _Mercenaries?_ It wouldn’t explain the two kids they had with them but then again maybe they trained them young?

He cut off the kid’s argument with the knight. “Who are you and what do you want from me?”

The one with the wolf-skin cloak stepped forward with his arms out to show he wasn’t going for his weapon. “We were told Link lived here. Are you him?”

Before he could even think of answering the knight piped up. “Could be a squatter.”

“Wars,” Wolf-skin scolded the knight.

“What? All I’m saying is the guy has been missing for almost a whole year according to these people, what are the odds we find him at home the same day we show up?”

The two kids and the knight he could take on no sweat. He could probably handle Wolf-skin and the guy with the cape as well. Maybe even the brown-haired one. He might have trouble with the one with all the scars on the side of his face, he looked to be a bit of a wild card. That left the tall, one-eyed man in the odd suit of armor. He couldn’t get a very good read on the guy and there was something about him that made him feel uneasy.

He answered Wolf-skin with his eyes still locked on the one-eyed man. “Depends on why you’re looking for Link.”

“We just want to talk,” the one with the cape said. “Maybe we can do this calmly inside?”

“No.” Came his immediate response. “Whatever you need to say you can say it out here.” Link even made the point to close the front door behind him. The more obstacles between them and Melody the better.

The guy nodded and he and the others proceeded to tell him the most ridiculous story he’s ever heard—even after his adventure in Hytopia.

“We definitely could have gone about this better.” Cape guy held out his hand sheepishly. “Hi, I’m Link, Hylia’s Chosen Hero. These guys just call me Sky, though.” Link could do nothing but stare at the guy’s outstretched hand.

So he disappears for a year and that goddess already has a new favorite picked out? She must have had a thing for the name ‘Link’. The guy had his pity. It took a few painfully awkward seconds before Sky realized Link had no intention of shaking his hand. He cleared his throat and pointed to the knight. “His name’s Link as well, the Hero of Warriors.”

“What?” Link started but the kid from before jumped in front of Sky, clearly impatient with the pace of introductions.

“My name’s Link too! Hero of Winds. And he’s Link. And he’s Link. And he’s Link. And he—” the other kid with the multicolored tunic covered his mouth with his hand.

“Your point’s been made, Wind.”

Link, overwhelmed, tried to take a step back but was met with the smooth wood of his front door.

Chosen Hero. Hero of Warriors. Hero of Winds.

He was sure the others all had hero titles as well. This wasn’t a new hero of Hyrule situation. Were they dealing with time travel? But he hasn’t touched the Harp of Ages in years! And it’s been locked up in his house ever since he returned from Labrynna years ago, no one should even know it’s here so how—?

No, the ‘how’ didn’t matter. He wasn’t a hero anymore and he wasn’t about to stick his nose in a place he knew he shouldn’t, not again. Hylia wasn’t going to drag him on yet another quest.

“If you’re looking for a way back to your own times, I’m the wrong person to ask.” Sky looked surprised he figured it out but really? What other explanation was there?

The brown-haired Link shook his head. “We’re not looking to get back to our own times. At least, not yet anyway.”

“Then why were you trying to break down my door?” He really hoped his face was betraying his feelings on the matter. Whatever was going on, he had no intention of joining their band of heroes.

Wolf-skin Link tilted his head in a way that reminded him of a confused dog. “You mean you haven’t noticed anything off about the monsters here? Or, I don’t know? The massive ominous purple portals between times around?”

Link blinked. No. He hadn’t. He hadn’t come across any monsters since returning from Koholint Island. Which, those monsters weren’t real, to begin with. And portals between times…a pit the size of Death Mountain formed in his stomach. That sounded like something his old enemy Ganon would come up with. Couldn’t that pig stay dead for more than a few years at a time?

Schooling his features into something neutral he replied coolly, “In case you hadn’t realized I just returned from a very long absence.”

The kid, Wind, piped up looking overjoyed. “So you _are_ this Hyrule’s Link! Do you have a hero title? Or maybe there’s something special about your adventure that we can give you a nickname. Like our smithy over here is the Hero of the Four Sword so we call him Four but calling Wars ‘Warriors’ is a little weird so we just call him Captain more often than not.”

Wind didn’t give him time to process his words before rambling on again. “But we can deal with that later. So, basically, there’s this shadow we’ve been chasing for a few weeks now but we’re not sure exactly what it is. We do know that it’s doing something to all the monsters, turning their blood black and making them stronger than they ever were before.”

“Not to mention they’re showing up where they’re not supposed to be,” the brown-haired Link said, rubbing a spot on his shoulder. “We had some serious trouble with a pack of Moblins from Wild’s Hyrule when we were in Sky’s time just before the portal dropped us off here.”

His heart started pounding louder and louder with each word they spoke. He understood the severity of what they were saying, he knew it very intimately. People were in danger and not just here, all across time. He thought back to the pages of Ravio’s letters scattered across his floor. To Zelda who didn’t even know if he was still alive.

He knew what the right thing to do was. It was the same reason he was drawn to Labrynna and Holodrum and Lorule and Hytopia.

But Melody…

No. No, he couldn’t leave. Marin was gone and Melody was _his_ responsibility. Staying by her side was the only way he could guarantee her safety.

Wind was still talking. “So, sure, we’ve got almost nothing to go on but hey, that’s the life of a hero. Right?”

“I’m sorry,” Link said, drawing confused looks from the others. “Look, it sounds like you got yourselves in a pretty big mess but this isn’t my problem.” Even if it was Ganon resurrected again, eight heroes should be almost an overkill in fixing the latest mess the powers that be have created. He was retired. He was _retired._

The pretty boy captain’s face turned a similar color to Link’s tunic. “What the hell? Not your problem? Are you even a hero?”

“Not anymore.” That turned a few heads.

“Why the hell not?”

“I’m retired.”

The captain sputtered. “You’re like, 15! How can you be retired?”

Link unintentionally turned his gaze up to the second story window where Melody was, hopefully, still sleeping. More than a few Links noticed his action and he held the fire rod closer to his chest with both hands. “I’m 19, and it doesn’t matter. Hylia herself could kneel before me and beg me to join you on yet another dangerous, life-threatening adventure and my answer would still be the same. I’m _done_ being her plaything!”

“You—!” The one-eyed Link placed his hand on the Captain’s shoulder cutting him off.

“You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?” Link wished he could have stopped himself from wincing at the man’s words. His single eye bore into him almost as if he was purposefully trying to dredge up every one of Link’s worst memories.

Finding his uncle dying inside the castle, being beaten down by monsters in dungeon after dungeon after dungeon, and Marin. Link clenched his jaw as the one-eyed Link continued.

“Life hasn’t exactly been the kindest to the rest of us either but this isn’t something any of us can just ignore.” _Watch me._ “I understand your hesitance. We all have people we had to leave behind: family and loved ones. But we all understand that the only way to protect them is by dealing with whatever it is that’s causing the monsters to act up like this.”

Link wanted to scream in frustration. No, they didn’t understand. Hyrule, the Universe, the time stream—whatever the hell needed saving, he couldn’t prioritize it anymore. Melody was his number one priority. Melody was the only thing that mattered anymore.

But he couldn’t shake the feeling inside him. It was like there was a string tugging on his very soul, telling him he needed to be out there fighting. _But Melody._ He remembered the screams of people who were being tormented by packs of monsters. _Melody, your daughter. You promised Marin._

Above him, an owl cooed and landed on a branch on the large apple tree in his front yard. It tilted its head as if it were mocking him.

_“So you are the lad who owns the sword.”_

He glared at the bird until it squawked and flew away. He wasn’t about to go down that path anymore.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. The captain huffed in frustration but the one-eyed Link only nodded in resignation.

“On our way into town, we passed by a tavern. I imagine we’ll be stuck here for a few days at least. If you happen to change your mind at least you’ll know where to find us.”

“I won’t.” He said with all the conviction he could muster.

“Old man, you can’t be serious!” Wolf-skin Link exclaimed as the one-eyed Link started to corral the others into leaving.

The older man turned and stared down the path back to town. “There’s nothing more we can say. In the end, it’s his choice. Although,” he paused and turned his head back to them so that only his closed eye was visible. “I’m sure he’ll make the right decision, after all, he has the hero’s spirit.” The rest of the Links were hesitant to follow, leaving him with a few unsure waves goodbye.

The amount of confidence in his voice pissed Link off. It was as if the guy already knew he’d just drop everything and join up with them. No meant no. Retired meant no more adventures. Why was that such a hard concept for these boneheads to understand?

Link couldn’t get his muscles to relax even after he couldn’t see them anymore. He knew it was a bad idea coming back to Hyrule. They should have taken the ship’s captain up on his offer and stayed on board with him and his crew. Raising Melody out at sea seemed like a much better alternative than dying in a time that wasn’t even his, to begin with, and leaving her orphaned.

He went back into the house and slid down the door until he hit the ground and he sat there amidst all the letters and old relics from his journeys.

A year ago Link would have agreed in an instant without question.

A year ago Link hadn’t destroyed an entire island with the pretense of saving it.

A year ago Link wasn’t a father.

_Melody._

There was no way he was leaving Melody. He was her only family. And no sane person would ever bring a child to battle.

But he couldn’t help but think of the monsters he faced on his adventures and of monsters from ages past and possibly from far off into the future. If things were truly as bad as they said would he be able to hold them off here on his own?

Without realizing it, he had made his way upstairs again. He crept silently into his room where his daughter lay sleeping peacefully. He carefully crawled into bed next to her so he could watch her sleeping face. He could have protected her on Koholint Island. There, the monsters were only a nuisance at best.

“I’m a terrible parent, Marin, for even considering it,” Link whispered as he closed his eyes for the first time in days.


	2. The Hero Returned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link realizes it's best he go see Zelda himself before rumors of his return reach her ear.

His dream wasn’t as much of a dream as it was a memory. He and Marin were at their secret spot on the cliff overlooking the ocean. The day was just like every other day on the island with near-perfect weather and clear skies. A few gulls flew overhead and out in the distance Link could see a dolphin or two breach the surface of the water every once in a while.

But Marin hadn’t dragged him up there just to enjoy the view. He stood a few paces behind where she sat on the edge of the cliff, her feet dangling in the air. The weight of her news took the air out of his lungs.

“And you’re sure?” Link’s throat constricted more than a like like. She wouldn’t look at him, instead, she held her hands in her lap and kept her eyes on the sea.

“I—I even went to the Great Fairy. Fairies are never wrong about these things.” Her voice was quiet and terrified. Two things he never associated Marin with before. But she had every right to be because he was scared too.

They messed up. Big time.

Link was still having trouble processing her words so he sat down on the edge of the cliff next to her. He was reminded of their first date when they walked along the beach together. They had ended up watching the sunset together, their fingers just centimeters away from touching. It had been days before he remembered the reason why he’d gone and sought her out that day. That walrus was probably grateful for the extra sleep anyway.

Their relationship was a slippery slope after that and now here they were 18 and expecting a child. He reached over and held her hand as they watched the waves crash against the base of the cliff. He could just imagine the look of disappointment on his uncle’s face.

Telling Tarin wasn’t going to be fun.

“I’m sorry.” A tear slipped down her cheek and Link’s heart lurched.

“No. No. No. Why are you apologizing?” He grabbed her face and made her look at him, her eyes were full to the brim with tears. He used the sleeve of his tunic to wipe them away but they just kept coming. “If anything _I_ should be the one apologizing to _you_! I should have been more careful.”

She was shaking her head as much as she could in his grip. “No, it was my fault. It was my idea.”

“That first time maybe but I seem to recall dragging you to every isolated part of the island every chance I could get.” He was aiming to get a smile out of her but was unsuccessful. “So if anything, it’s my fault.”

She wasn’t giving in. “I was the one who hid the toadstools so Tarin would have to go back into the forest to search for more and leaving us alone in the house!” Link’s cheeks warmed at the memory. They’d been so scared Tarin would come home early.

He shook his head to clear his mind. “That only happened once.”

“Twice!”

“That second time doesn’t count and you know it!” He let go of her face to bury his own in his hands to hide his embarrassment. They had an agreement to never mention that day again. _Ever_.

“It _does_ count! And what about that time we fell down the well?”

He looked up at her through his fingertips. She was either fighting tears or a smile, Link couldn’t tell, maybe both.

“You can’t claim that one, neither of us knew the well was there. Unless you lied to me and planned the whole…” He sat up straight when he saw her biting her lip with guilt clearly written all over her face. “You lied to me and planned the whole thing,” he said in a deadpan tone.

Marin definitely wasn’t crying now. No, she was very blatantly trying to hold back a laugh.

“Marin,” he said in fake desperation. It was enough to break the dam though as the laughter she was trying to keep down came out as bursts of giggles. “Marin, this isn’t funny. I thought I broke my arm when I fell.” She was full-on laughing at this point.

“Marin, I’m being serious here!” He really wasn’t and she knew that if her clutching her sides as she leaned forward gasping for breath in between her laughing was anything to go by. “Marin. Marin, I could have _died_.”

Link had to hold onto her to make sure she didn’t accidentally slide off the edge of the cliff into the sea. Not that they haven’t jumped into the sea from here before. She held him as well, giggling into the side of his neck. They didn’t separate even when she calmed down and got her breathing under control.

“You’re pregnant…” He breathed, speaking more to himself than he was to her. The words felt so foreign coming out of his mouth like when he was still learning the languages from Labrynna and Holodrum. They were going to be parents. It was still as terrifying as when she told him moments ago but now… in the places he felt numb and cold before he now felt warm and secure with Marin in his arms.

This was real.

At a loss for words, he twisted his head to kiss her cheek.

This hadn’t been part of his plan in the slightest. Then again, neither had getting shipwrecked on this island with no way home in the foreseeable future. Neither was meeting this amazing girl with a heart as big as the sun.

A family. They were going to be a family.

Link had been on his own ever since his uncle died. His life has been full of traveling and adventures, there was never a dull moment for him. He’s made friends in high and low places alike. Even after all of the hardship he’s gone through, he wouldn’t change a thing.

But…just because he enjoyed his life on the road didn’t stop the occasional ache in his chest whenever he would pass a family on the streets or in the marketplace. Kids playing with their brothers and sisters while their parents looked on. The longing he felt for the parents he never had and the longing he felt for the parent he lost.

“I’m so sorry,” Marin sniffed.

“Stop apologizing. Everything will be okay, we’ll figure it out.” He rubbed her back to get the tightness he found there to ease.

“You’re a hero, Link,” she said while pulling away from him slightly. His hand on her back stilled as he waited for her to explain.

“You’re a hero. Saving people is what you do, it’s what you were _born_ to do.”

 _Okay, now I’m even more confused._ “Yeah? So?”

She pouted when she realized he didn’t immediately understand. “So, you’re only temporary. Once you find all of the instruments and wake the Windfish you’ll leave this island,” she explained in a wavering voice. The ‘and me’ was implied.

Link was grateful he was sitting because if he’d been standing when the implications of her words sunk in he might have tumbled off the edge of the cliff. Did she really think he was going to just leave? Leave her? Leave this place?

Has she already forgotten the countless nights they spent watching the stars dance in the sky? The countless times he’s told her he loved her?

“The Windfish has stayed asleep for Hylia knows how long. It can stand to sleep for until some other adventurer shows up.”

Marin looked up at him as if she wasn’t expecting him to proclaim he was quitting his quest. To be perfectly honest, Link wasn’t expecting _himself_ to decide to stop in the middle of an adventure. But, did he _really_ need to finish it? The monsters here were easy enough to deal with and he could even teach the other villagers how to defend themselves.

Shaking his head to steady his resolve he said, “I’m not leaving you to face this alone.”

“What about Hyrule? Your home?”

Instead of answering right away, he leaned over and gently pressed his lips against hers. “ _You_ are my home,” he murmured against her mouth. His face and ears burned. That had to have been the sappiest thing he ever said—it didn’t matter if it was true.

They weren’t ready to be parents, though. Not in the slightest. It’s only been a few months since Link washed up on the beaches of Koholint Island. They found out the hard way that he wasn’t able to leave the island if he didn’t wake the Windfish. But, the serenity of Mabe Village and its inhabitants stole most of his drive to finish more than a few dungeons.

It wasn’t a horrible thought, staying here. Sure he’d miss Hyrule and traveling the world but he’s never felt happier than when he was playing music with Marin in the center of the village or regaling the village children with tales of his past heroics around a fire.

Could he do it? Could he leave the life of a hero behind? The back of his left hand itched where he once held the Triforce of courage. Surely, he wasn’t the only person in all of Hyrule capable of wielding the triforce? There had to be others with courage enough to defend against evil. Besides, he left Hyrule in very good hands.

Not for the first time, his thoughts drifted to Zelda. Word must have gotten back to her by now that he was missing. Someone might have sailed past the wreckage or bits of his ship could have washed ashore. Either way, anyone would look at that and assume he’d perished in the storm that destroyed his ship.

 _Maybe it’s for the best if everyone thinks I’m dead._ He thought as he pulled Marin into a hug.

Link woke to the sound of Melody’s cries. For a moment he forgot where he was and instinctually reached across the bed for Marin. His heart broke all over again as his hand came in contact with his screaming child on his bed back in Hyrule.

 _Right._ He sat up and rub a hand over his eyes. _It was only a dream._ He had no way of telling how long he’d been asleep but the way his body protested his movement it must not have been for very long.

His nose told him exactly why Melody was screaming. He picked her up with a few soothing words and carried her back downstairs to change her.

“We’ll need to go into town to restock this empty kitchen,” he told a freshly cleaned Melody who was preoccupied with the few wooden toys one of the crew members from the ship had carved for her. He sat on the floor of the kitchen with his back to the counter. “But if we go to town people will see us and word will get back to Zelda that I’m back in Hyrule.”

Melody was gnawing on one of her toys. He picked up the one shaped like a sphere and tapped it against her nose a few times until she started giggling. The corners of his lips lifted upward in a ghost of a smile.

“If Zelda finds out second-hand that I’m back she might actually kill me.” Melody latched onto one of his fingers he’d had wrapped around the ball. An idea came to him. “I know! What if we ditch town before anyone else realizes I’m back? If we’re quick about it I can have us across the border of Labrynna by the end of the week. How does that sound?”

His daughter blew a raspberry at him, clearly vetoing the idea. He blew one right back at her.

“Okay, fine then, if you don’t like my ideas why don’t _you_ come up with one?” In response, she held out to him the slobbery toy she was chewing on. A little white and gold bird. It was her favorite. He took the toy and nodded seriously. “I see. Yes, your logic is sound.”

She babbled something back to him in the language only babies understood.

“I _know_ I’m stalling. But your aunt can be a very scary lady when she wants to be.”

Melody stared up at him with her big doe eyes so much like the eyes of her mother. “Oh don’t look at me like that,” he begged as he hid his face in his tunic. He was so weak for those eyes. It had only taken Marin one look and she practically had him on his knees for her.

But..he had to see Zelda sooner or later. Better to get it over and done with while he still had his nerve.

Link heaved a not-at-all dramatic sigh and uncovered his face. Melody had tugged on the finger she was holding and brought it to her mouth to chew on.

“Alright, _fine_. You win. We’ll go to the castle first.” She cooed happily as he picked her up off the floor when he stood. “You dirty cheater, you. We’re going to have to establish some ground rules in this household Miss Melody. Whenever you want something from me you can’t ever look at me. Got it? Otherwise, it’s totally unfair to papa, you know?”

He fit her back into the makeshift sling he’d carried her from the port town to here and only grabbed his bag and sword. Maybe they could stop by the market after meeting with Zelda.

Half expecting to see some of those heroes he met earlier camped outside his house he opened the front door slowly. At first glance, the coast seemed clear enough but paranoia had him circling his property two or three times just to make sure. The only things he found out of place were a few what looked like wolf tracks near his front gate but he couldn’t tell exactly how they might be.

“That’s odd…” he muttered to Melody, who was content to snuggle up to his chest as they walked down the path to Hyrule Castle. “We’ve never really had much of a wolf problem before.” _Maybe animals have started to assume this place has been abandoned since I’ve been gone so long._

After a few minutes of walking down a path, his feet remember remarkably well the castle came into view. He sighed heavily at the sight but walked on nonetheless. He got within _maybe_ 30 feet of the draw bridge and the two soldiers on guard there already had their weapons drawn.

His free hand twitched, ready to pull out the sword on his back at the first sign of aggression.

“Halt!” Cried the guard on the left even though he’d already stopped walking. “State your name and business!”

The guard on the right gave a small gasp and lowered his weapon in a hurry. Neither of the soldiers were wearing helmets allowing Link to get a better look at their faces. The guard who lowered his weapon was much younger than his companion to the left. They could have been father and son for all he knew.

The younger one looked up at the older one and exclaimed. “Don’t you know who that is? That’s Sir Link! The Hero of Legend!”

Huh. Hero of Legend. That was a new one.

“He’s saved the world dozens of times!” He had to try his hardest not to cringe at the way the kid was looking at him with stars in his eyes. Besides…dozens? That was a bit of a stretch.

The older soldier only scoffed. “Link, was it? You mean that criminal who kidnapped the princess years ago only to be pardoned by her Most Gracious Majesty?”

He gave the men in front of him a very tired look—which he was sure neither caught because they’d started to argue over his alleged criminal record. He hadn’t even gotten the chance to say anything yet.

This wasn’t the first time this has happened. Most of the older people who were around to remember the first time Zelda had been kidnapped were the same ones who refused to believe his innocence or the fact that it was Link himself who was the one to save their ungrateful hides. But the younger ones, they held onto every word he said with rapt attention which made him feel even more uncomfortable and uninclined to say much.

Between the cynicism and hero-worship, he’d almost take the cynicism every day.

Melody started to squirm uncomfortably and Link had a feeling they were moments away from her having a meltdown if he didn’t let her out to move soon so he cleared his throat loudly.

“I need to speak with the princess.”

The older soldier narrowed his eyes at him as if he’d just announced he was here to assassinate the royal family. “No one is allowed near the princess without the proper authorization.” Link wanted to roll his eyes but settled for pinching the bridge of his nose instead. Why does he always think trying the front gate will ever go over okay?

He was in the middle of devising a plan to distract them long enough to get to one of his secret entrances when someone came up behind the soldiers and spoke.

“Link? Is that you, boy?”

The two soldiers parted for the short elderly woman. Link nearly cried the second he heard her voice.

“Impa.” Zelda’s old nursemaid had always been a trusted ally and friend to him within the castle beside the princess herself.

She took in his dirty, disheveled appearance and clicked her tongue at him but there was still warmth in her eyes so he could tell she was happy to know he was alive. “Where have you been all this time? Oh…” He watched the smile fall from her lips as her eyes landed on the makeshift sling. By then it seemed the guards also had noticed Melody’s existence which only made their looks of awe and trepidation grow.

He focused his own eyes on his now whining daughter, unable to bring himself to meet Impa’s gaze.

After what felt like an eternity he waited for Impa to process the news. She let out the same soft sigh Tarin had when they finally got around to telling him Marin was pregnant. “Oh, Link, what have you gotten yourself into?”

“I need to talk to Zelda,” he told her, eyes still on Melody. Melody blew another raspberry at him which might have meant ‘get me out of this thing already papa!’ but then again she could just be making fun of him again. _I’ll have to add to our ground rules. No more making fun of papa._

Impa silently led him into the castle despite the older guard’s protests. Before they were even halfway across the moat he heard the older guard grumble.

“A bastard’s bastard. Who would want a thing like that?” The only thing that kept him from turning back and skewering the guard through the spine with his sword was Impa’s hand on his arm. Gentle and warm. It was enough to bring him back from the pits of rage but not enough to relax his muscles the rest of the way to the throne room.

Neither of them got the chance to tell the guard stationed outside the door to announce their presence because the doors flew open suddenly as a young nobleman stormed out of the throne room with a bright red face. Steam was practically pouring out of his ears as he stomped off down the hall muttering profanities under his breath.

Not a second later an old pudgy council member went barreling after the young man. _Must be trying to push her into marriage still._ He thought as he and Impa took the opportunity to enter the throne room.

The last time he’d been here was to tell Zelda he was planning on heading out to sea a year ago.

She wasn’t sitting on her throne, then again she rarely did for the same reason she continued to push off her coronation to make her officially the Queen of Hyrule. Zelda told the council she felt she was too young to be the leader Hyrule needed but really Link thinks she’s afraid she could never live up to the legacy the late King and Queen left behind. It was a lie, of course, but Zelda never listened to him when he told her that.

If Zelda noticed two people had come in she gave no indication of it. She stood near the wall with the large windows overlooking the castle gardens. Her flushed cheeks were puffed out in frustration similar to the way Marin’s had whenever he would do something to irritate her.

Seeing Zelda again, he was confused as to how he ever mistook Marin for her when they first met. Her hair was only a shade darker than his own and nowhere near the brilliant red of the island girl who stole his heart.

The differences didn’t end there. Where Marin had been soft edges with a carefree attitude there was a hardness behind Zelda’s eyes that came from having to grow up too quickly.

 _Zelda would have loved Marin._ He thought gloomily as she opened her mouth not knowing who it was she was addressing.

“I told you I will not change my mind on the matter and if I have to tell you again, then perhaps an evening spent in the dungeon would trigger your memory as to who it is you are dealing with here.”

She must have thought the councilman from earlier had come back to plead with her. He remembered the man. Councilman Ivan had been a thorn in Zelda’s side since the day they reclaimed the kingdom from Agahnim and Ganon.

He cleared his throat.

“I say you throw him down there regardless.” Her back stiffened at his voice. She turned around so quickly it almost gave _him_ whiplash, eyes wide as dinner plates. “Don’t know why you’ve kept him around this long anyway. I’m sure if you look hard enough you’d be able to find enough on him to lock him away for a formidable amount of time.”

Zelda brought a hand up to cover her mouth.

“Link…you’re alive.” Once the shock wore off a large grin broke out on her face as she bolted straight into his arms, cursing at him for being such a stupid man for not letting her know he was safe the whole way.

Link took a step back and tried to get out a warning but the moment Zelda threw her arms around his shoulders Melody squeaked, no doubt in objection to being jostled and then squished. Zelda jumped back immediately.

The next minute and a half was a very tense silent stare down between the two of them until Melody sneezed and Zelda came back to her senses. He knew immediately where her thoughts were headed as their would-be tearful reunion was about to be turned into a fight.

“Zelda—”

“Whose child is that?”

It was then that Link realized that Impa had taken the opportunity to leave the two of them alone. _So much for being an ally._

Link picked Melody up out of the sling so he could hold her properly—and to give him the excuse to not answer her right away. He addressed Melody instead.

“Melody,” she blinked up at him in response to her name. “This is who I was telling you about earlier. Princess Zelda. Can you say ‘hi’ to Zelda for me?” He repositioned her on his hip so she could see Zelda better. Zelda’s jaw was clenched tight when Melody offered her the kind of smile that made her eyes close.

“Link,” Zelda said in warning.

“This is my daughter, Melody.” There. He said it. It was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders but then slammed into his gut at Zelda’s reaction.

Zelda lowered her head, her hands at her sides were balled into fists and were beginning to shake.

“Of all the things…you of all people…” When she finally raised her head her glare practically glowed from beneath her crown. He reflexively took a step back. “I can’t even begin to describe how disappointed I am in you.”

Yet another one of his heartstrings was cut at her words but he tried not to show it on his face. He knew this would be her reaction. He knew and yet…

“Well, I’m sorry to say that I didn’t come here looking for your approval,” he said evenly. Her glare darkened. Something must have happened before he showed up. She’s never been this hostile to him before. Either that or she’s changed considerably in the time he’s been gone.

“I just figured you would prefer to hear about her from me first as opposed to from rumors which I’m sure are spreading as we speak.” Holding Melody a little closer to him he turned to walk out. “That’s all I wanted to say. I imagine you’re busy with preparations for the solstice festival coming up so I’ll leave now.”

Before he could even take a step she spoke from behind him—her voice sounding more defeated than angry.

“You’re the last person I expected this from but…I guess you are a man after all. Just like all the rest.” The last part was spoken just barely above a whisper so he wasn’t sure it had been intended for his ears. Zelda huffed out a dry sort of laugh. “Did you even know her name?”

Link looked up at the ceiling. She was talking about Marin. He hadn’t expected to be asked about her so soon and his throat closed at the thought of talking about her to anyone other than Melody.

“I did.” That was all he said hoping she would get the hint.

She did not.

“I take it since you didn’t bring her along to introduce me she’s no longer in the picture.”

Link squeezed his eyes shut but that didn’t stop the onslaught of painful memories from surfacing.

_CASTAWAY, YOU SHOULD KNOW THE TRUTH!_

After a tense while, Zelda must have realized his silence was answer enough. The clicking of her heels echoed off the walls as she walked around to face him.

“Were you two married?” She asked softly to which he replied with a shake of his head. They were going to but Marin had wanted to wait. Something about how planning weddings takes time and by the time everything would be perfect she’d have been the size of the egg on top of Mt. Tamaranch. Her words, not his.

She was watching Melody suck on the sleeve of her dress the ship captain’s wife had sewn her when she asked him something that dug up his long-forgotten rabbit-like instincts of running at the first sign of discomfort.

“Did you love her?”

He cleared his throat again. “We really should go. I wanted to stop by the market to resupply before going home and it’s almost time to put Melody down from a nap.” He tried to step around her but she grabbed his arm.

“Wait, no!” She rubbed her temple underneath her crown. “I’m sorry I didn’t want to push you away. You came at a really bad time and I’m not myself.”

He was sort of relieved to know that was the case. “Then maybe I should come back a better time. Besides, I wasn’t lying, Melody really does need a nap.” Melody must not have thought so because she reached up and grabbed onto a lock of his hair and yanked.

He was so thrilled to know that his yelp of pain caused his daughter to giggle. _Great. I’m raising a psychopath._

Link raised his head to tell Zelda goodbye but he was met with the sight of her covering up her own silent giggles. He frowned at her until she composed herself enough to offer him to join her for lunch.

She refused to meet his eye. “It’s just…you’ve been gone for so long and the first thing I do is yell at you. Melody can sleep in the nursery—Impa would be there to take good care of her.” She added quickly. He must have let his panic show on his face at the thought of leaving Melody alone with someone she didn’t know. He hasn’t been more than a room or two away from her since leaving Koholint.

Impa reappeared at the princess’ word so quickly that Link figured she’d just been hiding away in some dark corner of the room. She must have gotten over her initial shock of him having a kid because she gave him a warm smile.

“You know I would never let danger come to any family of yours while they are under my care, boy.”

The look Zelda was giving him was full of worry and maybe a little pity. “I don’t know where you’ve been the past few months but she’ll be safe within the castle.”

Link almost reminded Zelda just how many times _she’s_ been kidnapped within this stupid castle but thought better of it. There was a reason he spent most of his childhood mostly mute. He spent the better part of a few minutes looking between Zelda, Impa, and Melody. Something was telling him to just go home. He was tired and hungry—having not eaten since the night before—and he would rest easier knowing Melody was asleep safe and sound in his bed and not in some nursery on the other side of the castle.

It must have been a temporary moment of insanity that led him to hand Melody off to Impa. “She might need changing before you put her down. I didn’t even think about bringing any milk along with me—I didn’t expect to stay this long but she usually sleeps better if she has something in her stomach.” Link was so busy fussing over Melody that he missed the amused look Impa gave him.

“She’ll whine a lot and start crying when you put her down but music usually works. Oh, and—” Impa held up a hand to stop him from going on.

“I think I’ll manage. This isn’t the first baby I’ve taken care of.”

The tips of his ears burned. “Right. Right, I know. It’s just—”

Impa only laughed while shaking her head at him. “You first-time parents are all the same,” and shooed him and Zelda both towards the door. As Zelda started to drag him in the opposite direction as Impa and Melody, his daughter gave him a smile over Impa’s shoulder.

“You’re supposed to be wary of strangers, you know!” He yelled towards Melody as they rounded a corner and he lost sight of her completely. Paranoia made his nerves stand on end. He spent most of their meal bouncing his leg and tapping his fingers against the table.

_Everything’s fine. She’s with Impa. I’m just worrying for nothing._

He needed to get his mind off it. Taking a sip of tea he brought up the incident that took place before his arrival.

Zelda was holding her teacup so tightly he was surprised that it didn’t shatter. “He’s the second son of a well-known family in Holodrum.”

“You do know you’re the princess right? You can tell the council _no_. I mean, you’re not even 18 yet and just because you _can_ get married this young doesn’t mean you _should_.”

She put her teacup back down and clasped her hands together. “They didn’t push this one too hard. I was actually going to go along with it.” Link blinked in shock. “Until this morning, that is.”

“Did you wake up and realize he was a power-hungry scumbag who was only marrying you for your title?”

She shook her head and gazed out the window. It was such a tired and defeated look that no 17-year-old should have. “No, he was a decent man. Treated me like an equal and never tried to patronize me. I was starting to genuinely start to believe he cared for me. Then this morning one of my maids let it slip that he had a mistress. When I confronted him about it he kept bringing up the fact that our marriage was going to be purely political.”

Words a girl never wanted to hear he assumed. Even Zelda who had resigned herself to the fact that she might end up in an arranged marriage must have had dreams about finding love herself.

“So you told him to pack his bags, right?” The corners of her mouth lifted in a small smile but it fell quickly.

“He tried so hard to convince me to not break off the engagement but how could I let it continue? His mistress…she’s, ah…” She averted her gaze. “ _Expecting._ ”

Oh… _Oh._

“And then five seconds later I show up with Melody,” he said slowly. Like pieces of a puzzle, everything made sense now.

She nodded. “If only you had arrived even just a day sooner. I’m so sorry for behaving the way I did.” He waved his hand.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve had worse things yelled at me before.” That hadn’t made Zelda feel any better. After another long silence, Link nearly spit his tea when Zelda spoke again.

“If it would be alright with you, I’d like the chance to meet Melody again. Properly this time.” She gave a little laugh. “I have to admit, the thought of you as a father was something I never imagined before today.”

“Neither did I.”

“Does this mean you’re home for good now? I mean, it was difficult traveling with her, wasn’t it? What would you do if you encountered monsters on your way?” Link froze. There was no way she knew what was going on. Right? The Captain had mentioned they just arrived in town this morning. They couldn’t have had the time to get an audience with Zelda _and_ ask the townsfolk about him _and_ come bang on his front door all well before noon.

No. Zelda would have mentioned it by now if they had.

“Could you protect her while you fought?” Her question wasn’t accusative in the slightest but he still had to swallow the feelings of guilt that were clogging his throat.

Wasn’t that the very reason he turned down the heroes a few hours ago?

He figured it was a good idea to inform her about his encounter with the group of heroes but the second he opened his mouth a scream echoed through the halls of the castle. Both he and Zelda were on their feet in an instant.

A maid burst through the dining room doors pale as a ghost. She collapsed to her knees gasping for breath. “You’re—you’re majesty…she—it just appeared out of nowhere—!”

Zelda put a hand on her shoulder and called for a few guards. “What did?”

The maid girl was shaking and she put her head in her hands. “It was horrible! A shadow in the shape of a man.” Link’s heart stopped beating as he took a step back. “Lady Impa tried to stop him but—”

He didn’t hear the rest as he’d already bolted out the door—sword drawn and his Pegasus boots at full speed.

This wasn’t happening. They were only apart for half an hour at most. Melody was okay. She had to be. The maid was seeing things. Melody was safe. She was safe. She was safe. _She was safe!_

It only took him seconds to reach the nursery and he was greeted with a sickening scene. Both guards who had been stationed outside the room were laying on either side of the door in dark pools of blood, their eyes open and unseeing. Without giving it a second thought he ran straight into the nursery. The first thing he noticed was Impa on the ground pressing her hand against a nasty-looking wound on her side.

A horrible laughing drew his attention to the left side of the room.

Link nearly dropped his sword.

It was just as the maid described: a shadow in the likeness of a man.

_“There’s this shadow we’ve been chasing for a few weeks now.”_

He regretted bringing only his sword as he gripped the hilt with both hands if only to steady himself.

The shadow was seated on the edge of the crib cradling Melody in his arms while she screamed her head off.

“Put. Her. _Down_.” His voice shook with equal amounts of fear and rage. He quickly surveyed his surroundings. It was a fairly large room with three sets of windows—all closed and latched. Another maid was dead a few feet away from the crib.

The shadow held his gaze with a smirk that made his skin crawl.

“You know,” it laughed. “Out of all those born with the hero’s spirit you were the last I ever expected to father a child.” Anger was possibly the worst emotion he could be feeling in this situation. It made people act irrationally and make stupid mistakes. He couldn’t afford to do anything rash. Not while Melody was being held hostage.

_Swallow your anger, Link. Focus on what’s in front of you._

The shadow wasn’t shaped like just any man, no, this likeness was familiar. It was taller than him with a dark tunic and hat. The face though…It resembled closely to the Captain’s or the wolf-skin Link’s.

It also looked confident. Confident to the point of cockiness. _There we go._ If he kept him talking long enough he could figure out how to exploit that.

“Who the hell are you?” From out in the hall he heard footsteps coming closer. Two—no, three people. Zelda must have brought the knights from the dining hall with her.

Instead of answering, the shadow smiled down at Melody who was still screaming and trying to wriggle out of his grip. Link started to see red again.

“You mean to tell me you don’t recognize me?” The shadow looked up and met his eyes. Its form started to change at its next words. A bit shorter now. A different tunic—longer this time and without pants. “I’m you.”

A reflection of his own face stared back at him. He had to stop himself from reeling back. A shadow in the likeness of himself. He’s heard the stories about the hero that came before him. This was no mere shadow. This was a dark.

Link knew the shadow had intended on creeping him out by shifting to look like him but with the dark hair Link couldn’t help but see Ravio instead of himself.

There was an opening, Link realized as Zelda and the knights finally made it to the nursery. This shadow was gloating, probably figuring he’d shocked Link’s pants off.

_Well, joke’s on him, I don’t wear pants, to begin with._

He begrudgingly thought back to a few months ago to when he was on Koholint. When the Moblins had kidnapped Marin and left her on the bridge with no way down. He didn’t bring any Hookshot with him, the only magic item he had on him that would work were his Pegasus boots. Would they be fast enough?

_They have to be._

But just as he moved his right foot back to launch himself thunder boomed from outside as a massive bolt of lightning hit the ground just outside the window. The force actually shattered the glass and Link missed his chance.

The shadow sat there and gave him a victorious smile as Link could hear the roars of monsters and the screams from the townsfolk.

“Well, it seems my time’s up.” _No. No. No. Move, body! Move!_

“Link!” Zelda yelled as the shadow raised a hand. A dark purple portal appeared on the floor in front of the crib.

Link threw caution to the wind and activated his Pegasus boots. _Be fast enough! Be fast enough!_

“I’ll be seeing you around, _Hero of Legend_ ,” the shadow said as it fell effortlessly into the portal, taking Melody with it.

Link screamed as he reached the now-closed portal just a second too late.

“ _MELODY!_ ” He stabbed at the floor where the portal had been with his sword and shattered the tiles. Adrenaline was still coursing through his veins keeping him from believing that what just happened actually did.

Melody.

His Melody.

Gone. Gone. _Oh, Hylia._

Link screamed again, white-hot tears burned from behind his eyes.

She was _right there._ He could have made it. He could have reached her. He could have saved her. If only he hadn’t hesitated. By the goddesses. _Why did he hesitate_?

He was numb to the world around him, even to Zelda as she screamed and yelled for a healer to be brought to them.

_Melody…_

His arms felt so cold without her warmth.

“I must have angered Her,” Link said in a deathly calm tone. That had to be it. It made so much sense now. Zelda knelt beside him.

“What?” She asked.

The anger he forced himself to shove away resurfaced and boiled his insides as he scoffed. “That damned goddess. Was it because I refused her wishes? Or did the Windfish throw a kink in her plans after all? Did he throw me a bone you never wanted me to have? Is that it?” He was yelling at this point. Screaming at the sky and a goddess who never seemed to hear him. “Are all the obstacles out of my way now you spiteful—?”

“Link!” Zelda grabbed his shoulders, snapping him out of it. He came back to reality harder than he wanted. He lowered his head until it came in contact with Zelda’s shoulder.

His little girl was just taken from him right before his eyes. When the first tear fell he thought the rain from outside had started to blow in but the skies were still clear out. He forgot to question where the lightning had come from.

 _This is all my fault._ He didn’t dare say that out loud to Zelda because she would try to convince him otherwise but he knew the truth.

He should have heeded their warning. He should have gone with them when he had the chance. He should have...He should have...

He should have never woken the Windfish.

_Just as you cannot know if a chest holds treasure until you open it, so you cannot tell if this is a dream until you awaken..._

Awaken…

Maybe…maybe this was just a nightmare. He ripped himself away from Zelda and started to tear apart his bag in search of any instrument at all.

“Link? What are you doing?” He swatted her hands away when she tried to stop him. If this was just a dream then a song of awakening would work. He thought as he pulled an ocarina out of his bag and brought it up to his lips frantically playing the Ballad of the Windfish.

It was going to work. He was going to wake up in his bed next to Melody and then he was going to pack up their belongings and leave Hyrule before nightfall. He was going to change his name and become the best blacksmith his daughter could be proud of. He was…still kneeling on the floor of the nursery in Hyrule Castle.

Zelda ripped the ocarina out of his hands.

“We'll find her, Link! Link, look at me! We’ll find her! Okay? I’ve already called for my knights to not rest until they find that man.”

“It’s no use…” he whispered as he stared blankly down at his hands. Marin and Melody were both gone. “They’ll never find him. If he was smart he’d be in a completely different era by now.”

Zelda made a confused noise but he couldn’t bring himself to explain. The roaring from monsters outside continued to echo off the walls. Thoughtlessly he stood and headed for the window fully intending to leap to the ground to deal with what sounded like a pack of Moblins.

He wasn’t that far off the ground. “Tell Ravio I’ve gone.”

“Link, Wait!”

He paused. “If I don’t return in a few months then I’m most likely dead.”

“Don’t say that!”

“Goodbye, Zelda.” He said and leaped to the ground.

“Link!” He ignored Zelda’s cries and ran straight into the fray.

There were a total of six…things. They certainly weren’t Moblins. Link had no idea _what_ they were but he didn’t exactly care. They were monsters and he was going to slaughter them all. He immediately noticed the eight heroes were doing most of the fighting. The brown-haired Link was trying to get a few kids to run away to safety and didn’t notice the whatever-it-was sneaking up behind him.

The scarred Link noticed though and yelled, “Hyrule, watch out!” _So that’s the one named after the kingdom._ The warning was completely unhelpful because The Hyrule kid turned to look in the opposite direction as the whatever-it-was.

Link activated his Pegasus boots once again right away. He wasn’t going to be too slow this time.

The whatever-it-was never had a chance as Link lopped its head clean off. Hyrule turned around in shock.

“Um…thanks,” he stammered, Link, on the other hand, ended up lecturing him.

“Are you new at this or something? Don’t you know how stupid it is to turn your back on a battle?” The kid had the decency to look a little sheepish.

“Sorry, guess I’ve gotten _too_ used to fighting with others.”

The scarred Link rushed over as soon as the whatever-it-was he had been fighting was dead and full of more arrows than necessary. Looking around the town center-turned battlefield it seemed the other Links were finishing up with their own battles as well.

“You okay, ‘Rule?” The scarred Link asked. “I really thought you were a goner there for a second.”

Hyrule rubbed the back of his neck and addressed Link. “Thanks again for that, uh, Link?”

He nodded in answer while he cleaned his blade on what that whatever-it-was had considered to be clothing.

The others soon crowded around him.

“That was _some_ footwork,” The wolf-skin Link said. He had a bit of blood on the corner of his mouth that Link tried not to think too hard about. “I’ve never seen anyone move that fast before.”

“Pegasus boots, right?” The multicolored Link asked.

Link looked over at the one-eyed Link. “Looks like you were right after all,” he said, his voice wasn’t as strong as he’d hoped it’d be. He didn’t even remember killing the monster and he just realized how badly his hands were shaking.

The others looked at him surprised. By the looks of things he figured they didn’t think he’d have changed his mind at all.

_If it hadn’t been for Melody I wouldn’t have._

“Hang on, just a few hours ago you about murdered us all for even suggesting you come with us. What changed?” The Captain exclaimed.

The image of the shadow slipping away through the portal with Melody in his arms burned in his mind like lava.

“That shadow you’re chasing? Stole something very precious to me,” his breath hitched. He was afraid if he said much more he was going to lose it completely. “He made the wrong enemy today.”

He didn’t care if he had to tear apart a thousand Hyrule’s. He was going to find that shadow and he was going to kill him for taking Melody away from him.

Wind let out a shout of joy. “Alright! Welcome to the party, Legend!”

Link blinked. “Legend?” 

“I heard some people talking about how the ‘Hero of Legend’ was back and I just assumed it was you. Sweet title by the way.” Link had no idea how to respond to that.

Sky gave him a warm smile. “Well, I guess no matter what your reasoning is we’re glad you’ve changed your mind. We should let you get your affairs in order. Don’t worry about this mess,” he gestured to the ruined marketplace, “we’ll handle it.”

“…Right,” he said and agreed to meet them back at the tavern. He was halfway to his house before he realized his right hand was still clenched. He slowly uncurled his fingers and finally let himself cry at the sight of Melody’s little wooden bird. He must have picked it up off the floor in the nursery.

“I promise, Marin, I will get her back. I will save our Melody.”


	3. In the Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The adventure begins.

Watching Dark Link try and placate a crying baby was at the very top of the list of ‘things Shadow did not expect to see today’. The baby had been screaming its little head off from the moment Dark Link brought it into his room.

“Just stop crying already!” Dark Link yelled while pulling at his hair. “Can’t you see I have your father’s face? Why isn’t that enough to make you believe that I’m him, you stupid girl?” Maybe it was his imagination but the baby started to cry even more after that to the point where even Shadow was concerned it wasn’t breathing enough.

Dark Link looked different today—normally he took the form of the Hero of Time but he must have come across a different hero while he was out. The one who was apparently the father of the still screaming child.

“Must be smarter than you think she is,” Shadow hummed from his chair. “If she can see through to who you truly are.” If he had been anyone else he would have cowered at Dark Link’s glare but it’s been months since his sudden resurrection so he’s used to it by now.

He couldn’t remember how it happened. One minute he was watching over Link’s shoulder while he worked in the forge—not that Link could see him with him being dead and all—and then the next thing he knew he was alive again and this bastard was trying to recruit him in this bizarre plan to take over the world or something. Shadow didn’t really listen to what the guy had said.

He refused a total of seven times before Dark Link got so fed up with him and locked him away in this dungeon.

Over the weeks he’s been able to piece together Dark Link’s plan. Apparently, he’s been screwing around with time travel and something about wiping all of the goddess’ heroes out at once. All Shadow got out of that was the fact that Dark Link has managed to pull Link into yet another journey.

He figured there had to be some way he could help Link but being locked up like a prisoner was doing him no good. So he took a page out of Vio’s book: pretend to be on Dark Link’s side until he found a way out of this place. But it was a lot harder than Vio had made it out to be. Dark Link was very different than Vaati.

_Why couldn’t it have been Vaati again? That guy was a total pushover compared to this._

Dark Link stole a baby. Sure he’s the bad guy but didn’t he have _some_ morals? It wasn’t just any baby either, this was one of the heroes’ children. The heroes were no strangers from having to rescue someone, usually the princess, who’s been kidnapped, but it was a different story when it was someone close to them who got kidnapped.

He’s heard the stories about the hero who came before Link, the one who founded the kingdom of Hyrule. That hero practically tore apart the world and slew _a god_ just to rescue his Zelda.

Dark Link wasn’t a god though. And he was sure Dark Link didn’t think himself to be one either. He had to know just how capable the heroes were, they’ve all defeated enemies far more powerful than Dark Link and that was just on their own. And now he’s gathered them all together…did he think he could take them all on at once and stop them? But Dark Link wasn’t stupid enough to come up with a half-baked plan like that so there had to be something Shadow was missing.

He masked his curiosity with disinterest. “Remind me again _why_ you have a small Hylian child with you?”

Dark Link held the screaming baby out in front of him with a displeased look. “The Hero of Legend had become chained down with filial responsibilities,” he scoffed in Shadow’s direction. “Quaint, right? So I took it upon myself to break those chains.”

The Hero of Legend.

Oh.

Oh. No.

It was all Shadow could do to keep from face-palming himself. _Okay, maybe Dink really_ is _that stupid._

He remembered that hero well since Dark Link had spent a good week throwing a temper tantrum over the fact that he couldn’t find him. Turns out he had been in a realm protected by a whale god or something when he was supposed to still be in Hyrule. Dark Link had had a few choice words for the goddess Hylia for that one.

Shadow was sure this hero was another one that came after Link because he couldn’t remember hearing any stories about him, but through his mirrors, he was able to catch glimpses of each of the heroes’ adventures and the Hero of Legend’s stood out the most to him.

He started young—like many of them—but his life seemed to be constantly on the go. Danger at every turn. If his experience taught him anything it’s made him a vicious fighter. It's just rotten luck that every time he defeats a villain they don’t seem to ever stay dead.

“Are you sure it was a good idea to piss off that particular Link?” Just from his experience alone making any Link mad was a mistake. He was reminded of Blue wielding his hammer and shivered at the memory of Red and his fire rod. But _that_ Link? Even Ganon was starting to fear the Hero of Legend.

Dark Link didn’t seem too concerned about it though and merely shrugged. “He’ll behave, don’t worry.”

“How do you know for sure?”

Dark Link gave him a smile that told him they’ve already won. That he’s finally found a way to outsmart the most experienced hero. “He’s a cautious one—perhaps too cautious.” His voice was borderline giddy. “He won’t act until he knows for sure he can save her. And he won’t do anything that could potentially bring harm to her. I was lucky that it was this hero and not, say, that Hero of the Wild. Talk about impulsive. I might have had half a dozen arrows imbedded in my skull before I could even introduce myself.”

 _Yeah. And why couldn’t you have gone and stole from_ him _?_

This was bad. Dark Link may have been confident the hero wasn’t going to storm the dungeon fire rod blazing but Shadow wasn’t. He had to get out of here before the heroes find this place and he gets mistaken for a villain. _But, then again_ …his eyes landed on the baby Dark Link was holding.

“So, what? You planning on raising this thing yourself?” _Please don’t say you’re going to kill it._ Please _don’t say you’re going to kill it._

“Don’t be an idiot. I have far more important things to do than fuss over this mewling whelp.” Dark Link unceremoniously deposited the baby in Shadow’s arms and started to phase out of the room through the wall.

While he was relieved Dark Link was no longer holding the baby in what looked like an uncomfortable position, it took a second for the realization to dawn on him. “Wait! Hold on! You can’t just leave this with me!”

“Just get it to stop crying and you’ll be fine. Keep her alive, will you? A dead hostage is no good to me.”

On the bright side, now that Dark Link was gone the baby stopped crying. She looked up at him with her big brown doe eyes and bright red face from all the crying she did. Shadow had no idea what to do with the baby in his arms so he stared right back at her.

She tilted her head to the side so he copied her and did the same. After an intense staredown that lasted what felt like hours the baby blinked and smiled at him.

Shadow held the baby at arm’s length freaking out. “Oh, Hylia, did I break it? What’s wrong with it? I don’t know how babies work! Dink! Get back in here and put this thing back where you found it!” Kill two cuccos with one stone: The heroes would be less inclined to commit mass murder and he wouldn’t be stuck trying to take care of a tiny Hylian.

The baby had to have been broken because it started making a weird noise and grabbing at his hair.

“Okay! Don’t freak out! Maybe if I just put it down…” That was the wrong thing to do because as soon as he laid her down on the table she started to whine which turned into a loud wail. Upon realizing his mistake he scooped her back up and awkwardly pat her on the head. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I won’t put you down again, just don’t cry!”

The baby settled down quickly after he picked her up and she started playing with the strings on his tunic. Shadow was as still as a statue—he didn’t even breathe in fear of upsetting her again. That only lasted about a minute before he started seeing dots.

While she chewed on the strings he took the chance to study her face. Her cheeks were rounded and still a bit pink. Her nose looked like it should be way too small to get any air in but babies were little, maybe they didn’t need that much air. Nothing that reminded him of the Link he knew. But that made sense since most of the heroes didn’t seem to share blood only the same spirit.

_Great goddesses, now what do I do?_

This baby threw a major wrench in his plans. He was close to figuring out just how Dark Link was creating those portals between times. Originally his goal was to use that same method to escape this place and try and find Link to warn him but now…how could he leave this kid to the mercy of Dark Link? She would be eaten by monsters the second he left!

Shadow groaned and threw his head back. Was Dark Link onto him? Is that why he assigned him as a babysitter?

If he left now it would only be too obvious he was running away. Now he was going to have to lay low for a while more which sucked because Dark Link was a downright terrible interior designer. The whole dungeon was decorated in varying shades of purple with grotesque statues, ripped portraits, shattered mirrors, and over-the-top creepy furniture. It was almost as if the guy was trying too hard to convince everyone he was a bad guy.

For a shadow, subtlety wasn’t his strong suit.

Shadow sighed and focused on the baby in his arms. Even if he did take her with him how was he supposed to travel with her? Weren’t babies super needy and fragile? This was the first one Shadow’s been near but he knew they required a lot of sleep and attention and he wasn’t sure if he could provide her that whilst potentially running for his life from a vengeful psychopath with a horde of bloodthirsty monsters.

There was a white bow tied around the baby’s forehead with pale blue cursive script. “Me-lo-dy…Melody? Is that your name?” Shadow hit his own forehead. “Why am I asking you? You can’t speak.”

The baby made another noise and Shadow stiffened. Was she responding to her name? Was her brain even developed enough to understand him? “M—Melody?” He tried again and she gave him a huge smile that weirded him out to no end.

“Too smart for your own good for sure.” Melody went back to chewing on his shirt strings contently. “Well, it looks like it’s you and me for now.”

 _I’ll find a way to get you back to your dad, I promise._ He couldn’t risk saying the words out loud but he hoped one of the goddesses of Light heard him and would hold him to that promise.

The next day, or rather, a few millennia prior in the era of the Hero of Time.

Link, or Legend now, readjusted his sword strap for the fifth time in the past ten minutes—an action he knew was bothering Warriors but he couldn’t help it. The shock was starting to wear off and his nerves were making him antsy. They were moving far too slow for his tastes and the general mood of his companions didn’t fit the situation at all.

The shadow had to have been keeping a close eye on them because almost as soon as he’d made it back to the tavern to officially join their band of heroes a portal opened up at the edge of the woods. A large part of him hoped it would spit them out in the middle of the shadow’s lair so he could make a big show of lopping off bits and parts until the shadow died a very slow and painful death.

 _I’m going to start with his fingers and hands for even_ daring _to touch Melody._ He thought as they marched through a humid swampy area. _Then I’ll gouge out his eyes so he won’t know what’s coming next._

Legend was so caught up in his daydream of all of the gruesome ways he was going to torture the shadow to death that he didn’t notice Twilight—the wolf-skinned Link’s nickname as he learned—had been trying to talk to him for a while.

“What?” He snapped, his anger and irritation for the shadow seeping into his voice. His outburst caused a few of the others to glance back at him—when did he end up in the back of the pack? Twilight didn’t look at all bothered by his tone though.

“I was just seeing how you were adjusting. Time travel can be a bit overwhelming the first time and all.”

His foot got caught in a small patch of briars which left a few scratches on his Pegasus boots that he’d have a hard time buffing out later. “I know,” he said as he made his stride a bit longer to catch up with the others. “Don’t tell me this is the first you’ve had to deal with moving through time?”

He didn’t miss the way Time—the one-eyed Link—stiffened at his words. _Hero of Time, was it? The title makes sense now._

Unfortunately, the other Links heard him and took it as an invitation to ask about his previous adventures.

“You’ve time-traveled before?” Wind asked. There was an extra bounce in his step when he walked like he had an excess of energy that he didn’t know what to do with. “So none of this must be new to you right?”

Legend didn’t answer, instead, he swatted a few bugs away from his face and scowled at the path ahead of them. Was it just him or were they walking even slower now? Each second they wasted talking about frivolous things was a second his daughter could be suffering at the hands of a monster. _Oh, goddesses what if the shadow leaves her alone with monsters?_

The question did nothing to ease his restless heart.

Hyrule joined in the one-sided conversation. “I know we don’t normally talk about our adventures but how many have you been on? I’ve gone on two myself.” Legend missed a step and almost went sliding down a hill.

“Two?”

The kid looked to be around his age maybe a year or two younger. _And he’s only been on two adventures so far?_ Legend was flabbergasted, to say the least, but the others must have interpreted his look to say he thought two was a lot.

Twilight placed a hand on his shoulder. “One or two seem to be the norm for us—with a few exceptions of course.” He followed Twilight’s eyes which landed on the two youngest in the group.

Four—the one with the multicolored tunic—sighed as he side-stepped a bush. “Can I even consider it three? I mean, I’ve just been fighting the same guy over and over again.”

“I can’t even imagine. Defeating Ganondorf once was difficult as is but if I had to do it the other two times…” Wind had taken on a more serious tone than before as he gazed up at the birds flying overhead.

Legend tuned out the rest of the conversation while they went on praising the heroics of their younger companions. One to two adventures. Three adventures. He couldn’t help but think of how lucky the others had it.

It wasn’t that he wished he’d never been a hero, he was very proud of his accomplishments. Besides, if it weren’t for him, Zelda would have been sacrificed by Agahnim years ago and the kingdom would be in ruins by now. Holodrum and Labrynna too.

But what if he had just stopped after three?

He never would have met Ravio and Hilda and Lorule might have been destroyed by Yuga if he hadn’t been there to help. And Hytopia—eh…Legend was mostly convinced that the whole adventure was a hallucination. It was best if he didn’t think too hard about it.

_No, that adventure wasn’t the one I hallucinated._

Guilt started to pound on his heart from the inside again. An illusion. The Windfish’s dream. If he had stopped after three the Windfish would still be asleep and Marin would still be alive. But they would never have been able to meet and Melody never would have been born.

He shook his head and swallowed his emotions before he could have another breakdown. He hasn’t told the others about Melody yet and he wasn’t planning to in the near future. Because if he told them about Melody he would have to tell them about Marin and Koholint and if he couldn’t bring himself to tell Zelda there was no way he was telling a bunch of strangers—hero of courage or not. They were heroes and just like Marin had said they were only temporary. He wasn’t about to open his heart to new people again only to have them be taken away from him when this all was over. No, the only person he needed was Melody and he was perfectly fine using these people as a means to get her back and nothing more.

Still, there were some things they had to understand about him. They had to know he wasn’t like them.

“Six.”

The conversations stopped all around him.

“What?” Wild—the scar-faced cook of the group asked in a small voice after a while.

“You asked how many adventures I’ve been on. Six. Three of them I’ve had to stop Ganon.” The others stopped walking at his confession. Legend huffed in annoyance and kept walking, or would have if Hyrule hadn’t grabbed onto his sleeve. There was something familiar about the kid that Legend couldn’t quite pinpoint.

“You-you're including this one right?”

“This would be number seven.”

“Six adventures?” Sky exclaimed. “You would have had to have been 13 at the least when you started!”

In an ideal world, Legend would have preferred to keep his age to himself but he realized he’d already blurted out how old he was. Actually, he was 10 when he started out and turned 11 somewhere in the middle of his first adventure. He’d had a little of a break in between adventures but he wasn’t going to say much more about them.

There it was again. He could see it start to appear in the younger heroes’ eyes. It was the same look—albeit watered down—as the young knight had given him. That wasn’t why he told them. He didn’t want admiration he wanted to seem on another level so the others would leave him be.

“I don’t remember. Look, could we up the pace a bit? We’re losing daylight.” It was a weak excuse since it wasn’t even noon yet but Legend pulled himself out of Hyrule’s grasp and trudged on ahead of everyone else despite not knowing where he was headed. After a while, he was going to let Time take the lead since this was his era and all but for now, he only wanted to see the path ahead of him and pretend he wasn’t stuck in a party of adventurers.

“You were the one dragging your feet,” Captain Pretty Boy grumbled as they made their way through the forest.

They kept walking for hours, eating lunch on the go at Legend’s request. Thankfully no one brought up the subject of adventures again. Instead, they filled Legend in on all they knew so far about the shadow.

“We’ve been traveling together for a few weeks now,” Four said. “Honestly I didn’t expect to run into another hero.”

Sky nodded. “Yeah, we all met up the same day in a time in between some of us. I thought we all were it.”

“But then the portals spit us out in a new Hyrule. We did our usual asking the townsfolk about local legends and stories of heroes just to get our bearings.” Twilight added a bit absentmindedly. “Imagine our surprise when they told us the hero of their time was alive and off at sea. Since none of us recognized the era and all.”

The forest they were walking in had gotten a whole lot quieter, too quiet for a place that had seemed so full of life when they entered it a few hours earlier. All of Legend’s nerves were on high alert. Most of the others hadn’t noticed yet though and kept on with the conversation.

“We figured since there was a hero around then there was a good chance there was a princess Zelda. So we were planning on speaking with her to see if she knew where the hero was but we were turned away at the front gate. It took a while to get someone to tell us where you might be,” Warriors commented. “What’d you do to get so many people to dislike you so much anyway?”

Legend stopped walking along with Time, Twilight, and Wild. The birds have stopped singing. “Surprised they didn’t tell you about how I kidnapped Zelda.” He ignored the confused looks everyone gave him as he surveyed the undergrowth around them.

There was a faint magical residue in the air. Legend couldn’t tell exactly what the magic was but he knew it wasn’t good.

Maybe something put the animals to sleep? He slipped his bag off his shoulders and dug out his ocarina.

By now the others had caught onto the fact that something was wrong.

“What are you doing?” Twilight asked him while he was fingering the string on his necklace.

“Just checking something.” He put his ocarina to his lips and played the song of soul. He just hoped there weren’t any stalfos around. The only stals he encountered on Koholint Island were in dungeons and he never played this song around them. When he finished nothing changed the forest was as still as ever. “That song has the power to wake both the dead and sleeping.”

“So you felt it too,” Hyrule said. Legend blinked in surprise. He hadn’t expected Hyrule of all people to be familiar with magic.

“Felt what?” Wild’s eyebrows were scrunched together in confusion.

He let Hyrule explain if to only get a better feel for how deep his understanding of magic went. “There’s a darkness in this forest.” He watched the kid draw his ruby-encrusted sword. “An evil magic lying in wait.” That was all it took for the others to draw their own swords but Legend hesitated. The sword wasn’t always the most useful tool in his arsenal and he’d prefer to know what it was he was facing before acting. Especially if there was magic involved. He equipped his mirror shield and held it out in front of his body and waited.

The forest was quiet for a few seconds more, then the leaves on the trees in front of him started to rustle. A faint giggling noise came from the dark foliage and Legend recognized the sound a second too late as a fireball the size of his head shot out towards him. He barely managed to bring his shield up to cover his face in time.

“Wizzrobes!” He shouted and six cloaked skeletal figures burst out and unleashed a volley of magical attacks.

For a while, they could do nothing but block the attacks with their shields until Wild, who must have found an opening and rushed forward with his sword. Legend was about to warn him that swords wouldn’t work against them but realized that that was only true for the ones he encountered on Koholint. In the past, he was able to deal with them with his sword just fine.

It wasn’t until he saw Wild’s sword bounce harmlessly off the Wizzrobe that his heart started to race. That wasn’t possible. Maybe Wild missed.

Wild retreated back to the group under the cover of his round, ornate shield.

“Who’s Wizzrobes are these and how do we defeat them?” Four yelled.

That’s right. They were encountering monsters from other times so these could be someone else’s time’s Wizzrobes. His hopes were slowly crushed as each Link called out their respective ‘Not mine!’ They really were the Wizzrobes he’s fought before then. But the version of them that didn’t exist in the first place.

“They’re from my time!” He tried to ignore the way his voice cracked in the middle of his sentence. Now wasn’t the time for an existential crisis.

“Swords aren’t going to work” _Even though they should._ “Bombs and arrows are the only ways to deal with them but they’ve got us in such close combat…”

A few curses were spat out by his companions. The Wizzrobes were relentless with their attacks, Legend wasn’t able to lower his shield at all to go for his bow. Goddesses, he hated intelligent monsters.

Thankfully the smallest hero was able to come up with something amidst all the chaos. “I got an idea! Cover me!” Out of the corner of his eye, Legend watched Four tie an odd, white cloak around his shoulders. He could feel warmer magic coming from the cloak.

He almost lost focus on the Wizzrobe in front of him as he saw Four crouch down and spring upward in the sky a hell of a lot higher than a normal Hylian should be able to jump. Four must have miscalculated because he almost missed the branch he’d been aiming for.

“What the hell are you doing, Four?” Warriors called out. Four struggled to pull himself up to sit on the branch.

 _Oh. Smart kid._ He thought as Four then pulled out his bow and started to launch an attack. The kid wasn’t the most accurate marksman but it was enough to shake the Wizzrobes’ foundation so they could fight back.

In the confusion, both Sky and Wild were able to scale trees of their own. Unfortunately, it seemed to take a whole lot of arrows to even slow the things down let alone kill them. The black blood oozing out of their wounds was a sight Legend never wanted to see again.

They managed to kill at least two of them but not everyone was capable of reaching higher ground.

 _We really need to start thinning out their numbers._ A crazy idea popped into his head. He knew it was crazy because Marin would have hit him for suggesting something as dangerous as it.

Activating his Pegasus boots he pushed back one of the Wizzrobes a great distance from the others and reached back into his pack with his left hand to grab a few bombs. He could hear their fuses igniting and he knew he didn’t have long.

As soon as he was sure he was far enough away from the group he stopped and threw the bombs into the Wizzrobe’s arms. “Here, hold this,” and he sprinted as far away as he could to get out of the blast radius. The Wizzrobe was so confused that it held the bombs and stared at them for a few seconds too long before it realized what it was holding.

Legend hadn’t gotten far enough away from the explosion, the force from the blast blew him forward and he landed awkwardly on his shoulder. He heard the _pop_ before the excruciating pain reached his brain.

“ _Shit_!” At least it was his right arm, he could still fight with his left. The situation was looking a whole lot better now that they were only dealing with two, as Wild just finished one off. Although the one Wind and Twilight were fighting managed to trip the both of them up and escape towards the tree Four was currently perched in.

“Uh, oh.” Four lost his footing when he blocked the attack with his shield at the last second. He must have blocked too high and missed the Wizzrobe jumping up to his height.

“Four, watch out!”

The look of panic on Four’s face was more than he could handle. He didn’t even realize he had his Hookshot out until it was latched onto the Wizzrobe’s arm and he was pulling it back to the ground hard. Four was able to steady himself enough to take the shot. An arrow right between the eyes was enough to kill the thing for good.

At the same time, Sky was able to deal the final Wizzrobe the killing blow from his own tree.

Four, Wild, and Sky came down from their trees to join the rest of them. Surprisingly they were all relatively uninjured just a few scrapes and mild burns that were easily treatable with potions.

Then there was his shoulder. While the others were busy treating their own wounds Legend contemplated how he was going to deal with it. It was dislocated for sure, the problem was how he was going to get it back into place. He’s dislocated it once before after a particularly nasty dungeon in Lorule but he’d had Ravio to help pop it back into place once he got home.

_I could always try hitting it against a tree._

He got up and stumbled over to the closest tree and was about to stuff his hat between his teeth when Hyrule snatched it out of his fingers and hit him upside the head.

“Hey—!”

“And just what, exactly, were you planning on doing?”

Legend looked down at his arm just limply hanging there and then back up to Hyrule. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m popping my shoulder back into place.”

Sky looked a little pale at his words. He must be the squeamish one of the group.

He tried to get his hat back but Hyrule kept it out of his reach.

“Not on your own you’re not! You could hurt yourself a lot more if you’re not careful!”

This was getting old pretty quickly and the pain Legend was feeling was growing by the minute. “Then I’ll be careful! Now, if you don’t want me to bite my tongue off give me my hat back!” It got even worse when Wild came over to offer _his_ two rupees.

“Hyrule’s right, you know. At least ask one of us to help you put it back in place.” What the hell was with these people? Couldn’t they see he was capable of fixing his own injuries?

“I’m fine. It’s not like I haven’t dealt with worse injuries.”

His mood worsened even more when the rest of the group circled around him and Hyrule.

“What’s going on here?” Time asked.

“Noth—”

Hyrule cut him off. “Legend apparently wants to live the rest of his life in a sling because he won’t ask for help.”

 _And people call_ me _dramatic._

Time stared at them silently for a few heartbeats. “Weren’t you the one pushing us to up our pace?”

Legend blinked. Why was he bringing that up? “Why—?”

“Then you should also know that not asking one of us to help you is keeping us from continuing on.”

 _Stop being so stubborn._ He could almost hear Marin chastising him like she did the first time he returned from a dungeon injured. He had insisted he was fine when in reality he had been a few steps away from passing out. She spent a week nursing him back to health which left him to think who the stubborn one out of the two was.

Legend clicked his tongue and turned his head away from the others so they wouldn’t see the pain in his eyes. “Alright _fine_ ,” he conceded. “Just make it quick.”

The Captain was the one to volunteer saying he’s had the most experience treating soldiers on the battlefield. “Besides, Twi might rip his arm off if we let him be the one to do it.” That brought out a round of laughter and managed to make Legend’s scowl deepen.

He stuffed his hat in between his teeth and held onto a low lying branch with his left hand to steady himself. The Captain counted down from three but instead of pulling on his arm after one, he did it before he even got to one.

Legend screamed into the fabric of his hat and mentally cursed the stupid knight who gave him a smirk.

“One.”

He was five seconds away from pummeling him into the dirt when Hyrule practically shoved a bottle of red potion down his throat. While coughing and sputtering he gave Hyrule an incredulous look.

The brown-haired boy merely shrugged and deposited the now-empty bottle into his bag. “Had a feeling you wouldn’t have taken it yourself.”

These people were crazy.

He joined a party of absolute lunatics.

Goddesses above, couldn’t Hylia smite him down now to put him out of his misery?

_Who would rescue Melody then?_

The satisfaction from winning this battle now left him with a bitter taste in his mouth. How could he celebrate such a small victory when his daughter was being held captive? What were they doing still standing around for? They needed to get going right away! They couldn’t afford to stop. They—

Someone put a hand on his non-injured shoulder. “Whoa. You okay? You’re looking a little pale.” His brain was having trouble processing whose voice it was and his vision was starting to go in and out of focus. His limbs felt as heavy as lead.

“Shit,” he muttered as he pitched forward. His exhaustion must have finally caught up to him. _No…I need…Melody…_ Then everything went black.


	4. Guilt is a Heavy Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes guilt becomes too much for one person to bear alone.

Sleep was slow to leave him. The heaviness of his eyelids was starting to let up as his mind began to realize he was waking up. But waking up meant that he’d been asleep in the first place. He jolted but kept his eyes firmly shut. There was a huge knot forming in his stomach.

He was laying on something soft underneath a thin blanket. A bed. Not on the ground. The air was still and warm and carried a familiar scent.

_It was a dream, then._

The eight other heroes and the shadow that kidnapped his daughter. He held his eyes shut even tighter. Goddesses above, how much of it had been a dream? Where did he wake up? Was this his house in Hyrule? If he rolled over and opened his eyes would he see an empty bed or Melody sleeping peacefully? It couldn’t be either of the ships he’s traversed the seas on since he couldn’t feel the gentle rocking of the waves.

He gripped the blanket in his hands. Could he be so fortunate that he was in his and Marin’s little house in Mabe Village? If this had all been just one big nightmare—maybe the work _of_ a Nightmare. But his heart was smashed under the full weight of the Windfish himself because he heard neither gulls squawking outside the window nor could he smell the salt from the sea.

It smelled of dry land far from any ocean and of cattle. His house was nowhere near the farmlands so could he have stopped at an inn on his way back to Hyrule?

But he hadn’t stopped. He hadn’t wanted to risk it with Melody.

“Melody!”

It was then his eyes flew open, he didn’t take the time to really pay attention to his surroundings, only searching frantically for his daughter.

The bed he was sitting on was only big enough for one person and he would never have taken the bed for himself to leave his baby to sleep on the floor. His panic got worse the longer he couldn’t find her. There was no cradle in sight only a mishmash of cots, beds, and bedrolls.

No. No. He hadn’t returned to Hyrule alone. She wasn’t a dream. Melody had been real. She was _so, so real_!

He sprang up from his bed and was about to tear the room apart looking for her.

“Melo—!” His voice caught in his throat when Four walked into the room with an armful of various swords and daggers.

The two stared silently at each other while Legend attempted to compose himself. He could already feel the blush creeping up his neck. “I was just…How? Where are we?”

For a second there, he could have sworn there was a reddish tint to the smallest hero’s irises. But it was gone before his brain could really register it so it may have been his imagination.

It hadn’t been a dream after all. The weight of relief brought him to his knees.

The swords clanked loudly as Four clumsily dropped them on the floor to rush over to him.

“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. You shouldn’t be up moving around right now.” There was a pounding in his head that was making it hard for him to think straight. He couldn’t remember ever having a headache this bad before. Along with the relief came an equally heavy feeling of guilt for being relieved this had been real because that meant his daughter was still being held captive somewhere and some time he had no idea.

He could barely register what Four was saying. “The others are really mad at you right now, you know? Traveling while sleep-deprived may have worked for you in the past when you were on your own but trust me when I tell you it isn’t going to fly while you’re with us. We’ve got too many mother cuccos in this group.” The last bit Four grumbled as if he’d been on the receiving end of a few of his own lectures about sleep.

“Where are we?” Legend asked again. He had trouble remembering what had happened before he woke up. There was the Wizzrobe attack in the woods and he’d dislocated his shoulder but after that…

 _Dammit._ He groaned inwardly. His shoulder only had the barest amount of pain now no doubt thanks to the red potion but the red potion had done nothing to mitigate the embarrassment he felt. _It must have been the pain and exhaustion that made me pass out._

Four helped him stand and led him back to sit on the bed. “We’re still in Time’s Hyrule. We were lucky to have been so close to this place actually. If I had to listen to Wars complain one more time about being the one to carry you we would have been one hero short after that.”

At first glance, the small smithy seemed calm and collected but clearly, his tolerance had a limit.

“This house belongs to the old man and his wife. Welcome to Lon Lon Ranch.”

So this is where the Hero of Time lived. He took in the rustic wooden home around him. Legend wasn’t surprised at all. From what little he’s seen of their oldest companion he could tell Time wasn’t one for city living.

“Feels familiar, doesn’t it?” Legend raised an eyebrow at Four who had gone back to retrieve the weapons he dropped. He must have gone and repaired them. There was nostalgia in his eyes that made Legend think the kid was older than he was thinking he was. “We all thought the same thing the first time we came here.”

After Four finished putting each sword back in their respective owner’s bags—so he wasn’t the only one with a magic bottomless pit of a bag—he headed for the door he came in from.

“Anyway, Time wanted me to look at their fence once I was done so I should head back.” He turned and gave Legend one last stern look. “Don’t even _think_ about getting up. Don’t think I won’t send Hyrule back in here to sit on you.” Legend put his hands up innocently. It hadn’t sounded like an empty threat.

Of course, once he was sure Four was long gone, Legend completely disregarded it. He felt fine now save for the headache and the minor pain coming from his shoulder. There was no way he was going to sit still inside all day. He needed to go find Time to let him know he was ready to head back out.

There was a clanking noise that came from the other room so he crept out the door without making a sound. Someone was humming on the other side of the house.

He came into what looked like a kitchen and he involuntarily let out a gasp. All it took was the sight of her red hair. Was his heart even beating anymore? This had to be a dream. He was still asleep and dreaming. Even though he’d just spent all that time reassuring himself he was awake and this was real. Her presence ruined it all. The noise spooked the woman and she spun around—knife in hand.

“Ma—?” The two of them stared at each other in shock. _Link, you’re an idiot._ This woman wasn’t Marin. Marin was gone. He couldn’t keep seeing her in every redhead he met.

The woman hurriedly put her knife down and wiped her hands clean on her apron. “What are you doing up?” His tongue wasn’t working as she made her way over to him and placed her hand on his forehead. _Focus on the differences._ The woman was older than…than him and her face was rounder. She lacked the scent of hibiscus and the ocean. Her skin was sun-kissed but in a different way. There were calluses on her fingers and— “Dear me, you look like you’ve seen a ghost. Perhaps you should go lay back—”

Legend took a step back and swatted her hand away. “Who are you?” Logic was telling him this was Time’s wife but why did it have to be someone who looked like…like _her._

The woman looked at him with something akin to pity in her eyes. She opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by someone coming in through another door.

“Hey, Malon? I think you’re almost out of flour,” it was Wild carrying an armful of vegetables. “If you want I could run to town and grab some for you.”

The woman—Malon smiled at him. “That’s nice of you to offer, but my father should be coming home early tonight and he promised he would buy some on his way back.”

Wild nodded before he noticed Legend standing there. “Shouldn’t you be asleep still?”

“You going to tell on me if I’m not?”

Wild shrugged. “If I tried to force you to sleep it’d be no worse than the pot calling the kettle black.”

“But you’d still tell the others?” He challenged. The scarred Hero of the Wild gave him a sheepish smirk.

“Maybe I’d be more inclined not to if you helped me peel these.” Legend begrudgingly took the knife Wild handed him. His plan to go beg Time to head back out died the second he saw Malon. It hurt him deeply to tell himself they could stay a day longer because he had no idea how Melody was faring but what if they came across something more dangerous than a group of Bokoblins—he finally learned the name of those things that attacked his Hyrule—or those black-blooded Wizzrobes? How could he live with himself if he cut short this visit if it could be the last one Time’s wife had?

He could almost feel Marin’s arms wrap around his torso. Maybe she would forgive him for waiting. He just really hoped this decision would come back to bite him in the butt.

Helping Malon and Wild fix dinner was good for him. It kept his hands busy and so long as he was focused on how finely he needed to chop the carrots then he wasn’t coming up with every horrible scenario Melody might be in at the hands of the shadow.

Eventually, the others started to file back into the house to get cleaned up. He ignored the looks he received from both Four and Hyrule. What? Did they expect him to stay in bed all day with nothing to keep his mind occupied but the demons in his head?

Legend was helping Malon clean up a bit—she washed while he dried—while his companions sat around the table swapping stories of the female variety it seemed. Legend tried to tune it out as much as possible until he heard his name.

“By the way, who’s Melody?”

Legend dropped the pot lid he’d been holding and turned around to glare at the Captain.

“What are you talking about?” He asked evenly when in reality he was freaking out. _How does he know about her?_ Thoughts of him being a possible traitor crossed his panic-stricken mind briefly. That is until Hyrule piped up.

“Oh, right. Before you passed out—and we’ll be discussing your sleeping habits or lack-there-of later,” He gave Legend a glare that made him feel like a child who’d done something wrong. “You said something about a Melody.”

Precisely nine looks of mischief were sent his way. That was including Time and Malon. Weren’t they supposed to be mature adults?

Legend frowned for more than one reason. He’s only known these people for a few days and yet they seemed so comfortable around him to the point where he was starting to feel like he was being treated more like a step-sibling than a temporary travel partner.

It was Sky. Quiet, peaceful Sky who was the one to give him the fakest innocent smile in the world and asked the question that set everybody off. “Is she a lady friend of yours?”

Pandemonium. Pure, unadulterated pandemonium followed suit. There was teasing and wolf whistles.

Legend huffed in annoyance and went back to wiping the pot lid dry. “Just forget I said anything.”

“Oh, come on! Don’t be like that!” Wind whined. He was sitting backward and gripping the top of his chair in anticipation like a child waiting for an epic story.

The obnoxious Captain nudged his side, he was lucky Legend’s sword was in his bag in the other room. “Yeah, Vet! Six adventures you were bound to meet _someone_.”

“You might as well spill it,” came the traitor Hyrule’s comment. “They’re not going to let up until you do.”

“My money’s on girlfriend.” Wind not-so-quietly whispered to Twilight who gave a half-smile that looked more like a grimace.

“And what was that precious thing the shadow stole? Could it be an engagement ring? Wedding band?” Warriors kept poking and prodding and he’d had enough of it.

“Just _drop it_ okay?” He snapped and the room went dead silent. He put the pot lid down harder than he meant to and went to go find an open seat.

A few people coughed at the awkward tension in the atmosphere. It was their own fault. Was he going to have to spell it out for them? He didn’t want to talk about his past adventure. He wasn’t going to talk about his private life. Why couldn’t they understand?

He snapped out of his fuming by the sound of the front door opening.

“Well now, nobody died while I was out delivering did they?” A boisterous laugh came from the hall. “I can’t recall it ever being this quiet when you’ve brought all your boys along, Link.”

He was a large man with kind eyes. His hair and mustache were both gray but Legend knew instantly they had once been black.

Just as dinner was getting started they introduced the man to Legend but he almost didn’t need it. This was Malon’s father Talon. Malon. Talon. Legend couldn’t move. It was a wonder he still remembered how to breathe.

Meeting Talon was worse than meeting Malon.

For starters, he looked a whole lot more like Tarin than Malon looked like Marin, just older. It was in the way he laughed and joked with the other Links. Legend could only see Tarin sitting at the dinner table bouncing Melody on his knee as she giggled and pulled on his mustache. The fake-stern look he gave him when he’d asked permission to marry Marin one day. The pride and love in his eyes when he held his granddaughter for the first time.

Legend couldn’t take it anymore. All of a sudden the room was too small and crowded. He had to get out of there. He was going to throw up. Tears were threatening to fall but it was all he could do to keep them at bay. The last thing he needed was to cry in front of these people.

He stood abruptly, the loud scraping noise his chair made cut off the current conversation. Everyone was looking at him but he could only focus on Tarin… _Talon._

“Is everything alright, boy?” Talon asked. _Hylia, you’re a cruel goddess!_ They even sounded the same.

Legend’s throat was tight and he couldn’t get his mouth to open to say anything so he gave in to the rabbit inside of him and ran. Ignoring the calls from his companions behind him. He had no idea where he was going and no idea where he ended up but it was quiet and dark and he could let out his emotions without an audience.

The last time he really let himself breakdown was when he woke up stranded in the middle of the ocean tied to his broken mast. When he woke up he was in shock. He thought he was just having a nightmare and would wake up soon in bed next to Marin from Melody demanding attention.

But he didn’t wake up. He was alone and lost out at sea with nothing to his name but the sword and shield on his back. Or so he thought.

He thought the sun had got to him when he heard her crying.

She was floating on the surface of the water in a broken barrel still wrapped up in her sleeping clothes.

Goddesses he had never swam so fast in his life.

Once he was able to piece together a makeshift raft for the two of them a shadow had covered the sun briefly. The Windfish was flying overhead. He knew he should have been grateful to him for sparing both his life and his daughter’s but watching the whale flying above them he felt nothing but spite and anger and a sadness he never knew was possible to feel.

He cried and screamed and cursed every deity he could think of. Everyone he knew and loved disappeared right before his very eyes and it was all his fault. Marin. Tarin. Papahl and Mamasha and their boys. Old man Ulrira. Hell, even Crazy Tracy.

The only home Melody had ever known was gone. The only place he truly felt at home was gone.

They were lucky a ship passed by when it did—they were even luckier that the captain’s wife was still nursing a newborn and had been more than willing to help out. The sailors didn’t ask him many questions which was a good thing because for a while there he’d fallen back onto old habits and became mute again.

Now those emotions have found their way back to the surface and were threatening to explode if Legend didn’t release them first.

White-hot tears poured down his face as he hugged his knees to his chest. All of his wounds reopened and bled as strong as they had while he was at sea.

How could he let Melody get taken like that? What kind of father was he?

_The worst kind. The absolute worst. You lost your daughter a few feet in front of you, you shitty excuse for a Hylian!_

Legend buried his face in his knees.

He had no idea how long ago he left but he hoped the others weren’t looking for him. They were heroes, maybe not as experienced as him but they’ve had to have seen and gone through some awful things. So they had to have recognized that he just needed to be alone. Right?

Wrong.

Leaves rustled to his right. The burning in his face and ears kept him from raising his head. It was probably Hyrule or Sky but Legend wasn’t in the mood to talk to either of them.

“Thought you might be out here.” Legend stiffened. It was neither Hyrule nor Sky but Talon who had come looking for him.

He couldn’t stop himself from looking up at the old man who sat down next to him with a grunt.

“How did you know where I’d be?” Legend winced at how broken his own voice sounded and he really hoped the others weren’t lying in wait to eavesdrop.

Talon only chuckled and shook his head. He looked up at the star-covered sky. “When Link was still a boy—about your age, maybe even younger—that would happen to him a lot. He would see something or someone would say the wrong thing and he’d get spooked and run off.”

A panic attack. Was that what that was? Legend kept his eyes on the ground in front of him. He hasn’t had one of those since he was a little kid when his uncle was still around.

“Sometimes I’d find him out here, especially on nights where there’d be a full moon. He would always say he was just keeping an eye on it.” He saw Talon look over at him. “Malon never knew about this spot, it was always our little secret. If he wanted to be left alone all he had to do was tell me to go away otherwise I’d sit here and be an open ear for him.”

He understood it loud and clear. But even though he really wanted Talon to leave him be he regretted so much not being able to talk with Tarin more. So he kept his mouth shut and they sat there with the sound of the night as their background.

A moment later a gray wolf with odd markings on its face appeared out of nowhere. Legend reached for his sword that wasn’t there while Talon just laughed.

“You don’t need to worry about that one. Belongs to that Twilight fellow. I’m surprised you haven’t met him before.” Talon patted the wolf’s head. “Real gentle with people.”

Legend was reminded of the wolf prints he found outside his house the other day and frowned at the wolf. “I see.” They were spying on him then. He tried not to get too offended by it.

“Those boys are real worried about you, you know.” The wolf came closer to him and laid down at his side. “I about had to tie half of them to their chairs to stop them from running after you.”

“I didn’t ask them to be.” Though, he knew deep down that if the roles had been reversed for any of them he’d be worried too. “Must be a hero’s trait then.”

“Must be,” Talon hummed.

Legend looked over at the old man out of the corner of his eye. He couldn’t find many differences no matter how hard he looked. In 10-20 years was this how Tarin would have looked? Gray hair and smile lines? He could have been there to watch Melody grow up to be a young girl, a teenager…maybe he could have watched Melody herself get married and start her own family.

Pain flared in his chest again.

He cleared his throat two or three times before he was able to get coherent sounds to come out. “I should apologize…you just reminded me of someone I know—knew,” he corrected quickly. His hand moved on its own and started weaving his fingers through the wolf’s soft fur.

“Seems you have a lot on your chest that you need to get off there.”

Legend hesitated. If this had been Tarin he would have told him everything. The man had been so good to him and treated him as if he were his own. Something Legend missed dearly from his uncle. He wanted so badly for Talon to be Tarin so maybe that’s why he let his mask slip. “…How much do you know about us?”

“My son-in-law has kept both Malon and I informed of what’s been going on through his letters. Each of you boys are heroes of your own from different times in history and the future. To be honest, I really thought he was yanking my chain for years with all his stories of time travel and whatnot. But meeting you boys opened my eyes.”

Legend nodded. “I don’t know where I fall in the timeline of things—whether I come before or after Time…I think it would make sense if I came after. The Windfish might have known about the Hero of Time’s life and maybe that’s why…”

Talon was quiet and waited for him to continue.

Legend’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Talon and Malon. Tarin and Marin. And a hero to come along and save the day.”

“Marin was my…we were…” Words were not his specialty, another reason he spent so long not saying anything at all. But, what were they? Lovers? They never really talked about it before. They were just Marin and Link. Link and Marin. And then one day they became Marin, Melody, and Link…then just Melody and Link…he would give anything in the world to never become just Link again.

“Malon reminds me a little of her but they’re different enough that I can ignore the similarities.”

“But I look too much like this Tarin guy you knew,” Talon guessed.

He remembered the day he woke the Windfish. It was one of those days where he could remember everything down to the last second.

He only found the face shrine by accident a few days after Melody had been born. He tried so hard to deny what he saw in there as truth. But the owl…that damned owl shattered his fantasies with reality. He tried to ignore it but by then it was too late. The monsters had caught on to the fact that he knew the truth and became twice as aggressive.

Link had had no choice but to push on through more dungeons. Before he knew it he had all eight instruments in his possession.

He wasn’t going to go through with it.

It was a quiet morning. Melody had decided she was going to give them a break and sleep in. He and Marin stayed in bed holding each other without speaking. Looking back on it Legend had to wonder if she knew this was how that day was going to play out.

They had had breakfast with Tarin and then Marin had gone out to pick fruit for dinner. Link had begged her to take him with her but she promised she’d be fine, she wasn’t going that far.

So that left him, Tarin, and Melody. Tarin was down on the floor playing with Melody. Everything was normal. This was happiness. Something he never ever wanted to let go of.

“You know, Link,” Tarin said. “You’re a good lad. I just wanted to let you know how proud I am of you for doing so much to protect Marin and the rest of us.”

Not knowing what to say to that Link had nodded.

“And this little girl,” Tarin tweaked Melody’s nose to make her giggle. “Why, she’s got the best papa she could ever hope for, and I mean that, Link. I really do.”

Tarin had looked up at him with the oddest look Link had ever seen on him. “I know you’ll take real good care of her.”

Link was just about to ask why Tarin had made it seem like Link was going to raise her alone when he heard screaming from outside. Some of the animals from Animal Village were in the center of the village panting and heaving like they’d sprinted the entire way.

Moblins had kidnapped Marin, they told him.

He hadn’t heard the rest as he ran back to Tarin’s house to retrieve his bag and to kiss Melody goodbye.

Tarin’s voice wavered when he stopped Link at the door. “Just remember how proud I am of you.” He then told Link to go.

The first thing he did was whip out his ocarina and played manbo’s mambo and warped to the mountain. It was mostly a blur after that. He’d rescued Marin and held her for the longest time.

It was then that he realized why Marin had been so close to the Windfish’s egg in the first place.

She had tried to wake it.

“I love you,” he told her over and over again as he held her tighter. Her tears were starting to fall onto his shoulder. “I love you so much.”

But he had to let go. They were both at the end of their line and they knew it. This island was never going to be free while the Windfish slept. The monster would keep at it until they destroyed every last good thing about the island. But once the Windfish wakes Koholint would be destroyed.

“Please don’t ever forget us, Link. _Please_!” She was hiccupping at this point.

“No. No, _this isn’t goodbye, Marin_!” He cupped her cheeks in his hands and kissed her firmly. When they broke apart they stayed connected by their foreheads. His voice was little more than a whisper. “I’m done saying goodbye.”

Link took a step back and held her hands in his. “The Windfish will grant my wish. You and Melody and Tarin…he will not take my family away from me!”

She gave him a watery smile. “Then all of this will be over?”

“No more adventures.”

“What would you do with all that free time?”

He smiled back at her while they fantasized about a future that could never be.

“I don’t know. But I think I would like to spend every second of it with you and Melody.” He pulled her into a hug and rested his head against hers and focused on the way her heartbeat matched his. “We could get married. Have as many kids as you want.”

Marin giggled. “You know damn well that isn’t happening any time soon. But maybe in a few years, we could have a bunch of blonde-haired girls and red-haired boys running around the island.”

“We could form our own choir.”

“Link?” She pulled away to kiss him softly. It was slow and long and he savored the feeling. “Good luck at the egg.”

He had a feeling that wasn’t what she wanted to say but he nodded and released her reluctantly.

“You should make banana pie for dinner.”

“Would you like an actual meal with that or just the pie?” She joked.

It just about killed him, turning to head up the mountain because he knew if he looked back he would drop everything and run back into her arms.

 _The Windfish_ will _grant my wish._

But it hadn’t.

Legend didn’t start crying again, he just felt…hollow. He couldn’t find the words to tell Talon about Koholint or what he did. “I failed them all…they’re all gone because of me. I did something I shouldn’t have and they paid the price for it.”

He didn’t give Talon much information but he still sat there and considered Legend’s words. “Link told me a story once, years ago. I’m wondering if I should be telling you this at all,” the wolf’s ears twitched. “But I get the feeling this is something you need to hear. When Link was a boy, the first time around,” that was an odd way to word things but Legend kept quiet.

“There was a great evil that threatened the safety of Hyrule. Link has never been a very lucky boy and as his luck would have it the goddess chose him to be the savior of Hyrule. However, the evil had come too early and Link wasn’t yet prepared so when it came time for him to retrieve the Master Sword he was judged by that ancient blade as too young and inexperienced and it sealed him away in the sacred realm where he slept for seven years.”

Legend raised an eyebrow at the old man. The sword had done no such thing to him the first time he pulled it from its pedestal. And the sacred realm…that only confirmed it for him that he came sometime after Time because by Legend’s time the sacred realm had already been corrupted by Ganon to the point of no return and had become the dark world.

“Now, I’m sure there are important bits to the story I’ve left out but the important thing is, the flow of time did not cease while Link slept. For seven years Hyrule had to suffer at the hands of evil. Tell me, son. Do you believe that was Link’s fault?”

“What?” Legend was startled at the question. “It’s not like he asked to be put to sleep for that long!”

“So then, you agree he ended up in his predicament, not through his own volition? And that his actions were the best he could do given his bad situation?”

Legend bit the inside of his cheek and didn’t answer. He’s gone over it in his head millions of times, trying to come up with a solution that didn’t leave him bleeding and alone but in the end, all it would ever be is a ‘what if’.

“Did you blame him? When Ganon took over?”

“Well, I don’t think I can answer for the me in a time that Link made sure never happened.” _Oh_. Time travel made his head hurt. “But I don’t think I would have blamed him, my boy. After all, chess pieces are moved by someone else.”

Legend hugged his knees a little closer to his chest.

_Just remember how proud I am of you._

_Would you still be proud if you knew I let your granddaughter get kidnapped?_

The wolf whined and nudged his cold nose against Legend’s thigh.

“There’s more weight on your shoulders than that but I won’t push. It’s getting late.” Talon made a move to get up but his voice started working properly all of a sudden.

“I haven’t told the others.” Talon settled back down with his back against a tree. “The thing we’re going against, I met it in the castle before joining with them.”

“Ah, yes. They did mention it stole something from you.”

“…Not something. _Someone._ ”

He didn’t have a problem telling Talon, he felt comfortable talking with the man just as he had felt talking with Tarin. He trusted it would stay between the two of them. And the wolf couldn’t talk so he had nothing to worry about there. “Mine and Marin’s daughter. Melody.” The wolf’s head snapped up and stared him down. If he was any less sane than he already was he would have sworn there was shock in those dark eyes.

Talon hadn’t said much after that but he could see the pain in his own heart mirrored within Talon’s eyes. One father to another.

He felt lighter than ever walking back to the house with Talon and the wolf. His anxiety about Melody hasn’t gone away but some of his guilt regarding what happened to Koholint Island has. Both Marin and Tarin would be upset if they could see him beating himself up constantly over it.

Dinner was over by the time they made it back to the farmhouse but there were still two untouched plates left on the otherwise empty table. Legend didn’t have much of an appetite but made himself eat something regardless.

Four and Wind were helping Malon with the dishes. He had seen Sky sitting out on the front porch carving something out of a small block of wood. Wild was chatting with Malon while he skimmed over her cookbook. Hyrule was digging through a cabinet of what looked to be potions while Time and Warriors were spouting off what they had left in their inventory and what all they would need to pick up in the market before they left town in the morning.

When he asked where Twilight was, Wild hesitated for a split second then told him he had gone to go check on the horses.

“I see you met Wolfie,” Wind said, nodding his head to the wolf who had followed him inside. There was still a bit of lingering tension in the room and he knew everyone had been looking at him discreetly from the moment he walked in the door but no one questioned him. Maybe they did have a clue after all.

“Yeah. Must be handy having an emotional support wolf at your beck and call. That’s got to be some story.”

“What?” Wild asked.

“How Twilight managed to tame a wolf.” He ruffled the wolf’s ears only to earn a growl. _You’re going to growl at me after acting like a hylian retriever? I don’t buy it._

Four started coughing at the sink and the rest of the tension seemed to dissipate.

Later that night Twilight refused to meet his eye and avoided him whenever he would get too close. Legend was confused to no end. After mulling it over he decided Twilight was just weird and called it a night.

He let himself get as comfortable as he could but Melody remained at the forefront of his mind. They were going to get her back. Him together with this odd grouping of heroes.


	5. Parallel Worlds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Like father like daughter.

_Okay. This time it’s going to work._

Shadow tightened his grip on the two ends of the cloth diaper. Dark Link had deposited at least ten different parenting books at Shadow’s doorway—probably as a joke—but not one of them had detailed, step-by-step drawings showing him how to properly change a diaper. They just tell you to do it. Was he supposed to just naturally know how the ends tie together? He was certain he’s tied it differently every time and half of them ended up coming loose after a few minutes.

At least Melody wasn’t crying this time while she lay on Shadow’s bed distracted by a sparkly rock he’d found lying around the place.

Why those hylians thought having kids was a good idea Shadow had no clue. They were messy and gross and they cried at the drop of a hat and…

Melody looked up at him and giggled it made his heart do something that felt really weird.

_And not at all cute. No way no how!_

She yawned and made a little noise and his heart did the thing again. Was she casting a spell on him? He knew the Hero of Legend had some experience with magic items but he didn’t know if the guy could do actual magic himself. Was the little gremlin trying to kill him?

Melody yawned again and Shadow remembered one of the parenting books he definitely didn’t read, because that would just be ridiculous, mentioned babies this young needed to take naps frequently.

“Is it that time again?” He had the worst time getting her to fall asleep, maybe there were magic words he needed to say? But a lot of times if he walked around with her it calmed her enough to get her to take at least a short nap. Shadow was a little irritated because he’d been meaning to do some reconnaissance for a few days now but he couldn’t just leave Melody on her own and she was too noisy to do any sort of stealth.

 _But if she’s asleep…_ It wouldn’t be at all suspicious if he were to walk around with her and if he were to stumble upon something good while he was out there…

Shadow applauded himself for being a genius. “Alright, who’s ready for bedtime?”

She blew a raspberry at him expressing her opposition to the idea but he scooped her up anyway. “Well, too bad you don’t get a choice.” This child has disrupted his sleeping patterns to the point where he knew he was losing it mentally.

He’d cut up some draperies the other day to make a sling so he could carry her keeping his hands free. “But this time, we’re going to sleep on the go. How’s that sound?”

He was getting a little concerned for himself because a small part of him had expected an answer.

_The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we find your dad and you’ll be his problem again._

He circled around the dungeon a few times to make it look like he was just taking Melody out on a stroll to get her to sleep—which totally worked by the way. She was out like a light by their third lap.

_Now we’re talking._

He passed the same group of Wizzrobes for the fourth time and when they were out of sight he ‘took a wrong turn’. There was a secret door along the far wall that if you pressed the right brick a staircase would be uncovered.

The staircase led him down to an unused corridor. He wasn’t even sure Dark Link knew about its existence. Which was a good thing because at the end of the corridor there was a grate on the ceiling that connected to Dark Link’s study.

He prayed to any deity that would hear him that Melody stayed asleep because sound traveled both ways through the grate.

Dark Link must have returned from his latest trip through time and it didn’t sound as if he was alone.

“—Just like I said he would.” Came Dark Link’s smooth voice. “Everything’s all set up for the next phase.”

Shadow didn’t recognize the second person but his voice sent shivers down his spine.

“Link the Hero,” the second voice mused. “Their nightmares have only just begun.”

The voice then bade Dark Link farewell and Shadow cursed his luck to have only caught the tail end of their conversation. But now he understood Dark Link’s confidence—he wasn’t working alone. And from the sounds of things the heroes were in for it big time. He couldn’t waste any more time he _had_ to get out and warn Link. They were going to walk straight into a danger beyond their expectations at this point.

Shadow held his breath while Dark Link walked around his study for a while and didn’t relax until he heard the door open and close. He leaned against the wall in relief—that is until the wall disappeared and he fell backward.

Luckily, he didn’t fall too far because something sturdy was there to catch him. Unluckily, when he turned around he was faced with a giant room filled with different sized blocks.

He knew before he even looked back that the wall had reappeared and trapped him inside the puzzle room.

_Great. Just great._

It must have been leftover from whatever monster had possession of this dungeon before a hero wiped it out.

Shadow sighed heavily and pressed his forehead against one of the blocks. There was a reason he’d been a bad guy instead of a hero. The bad guys never had to solve the complicated dungeon puzzles to get from room to room.

He knew there was no way out if he didn’t find the answer.

“First I die,” he grumbled to himself as he started pushing. “Then this jackass decides he’s going to do me a favor by resurrecting me only to not realize I wasn’t in the whole villain business anymore and he locks me up.”

Was it just him or were the blocks getting heavier the more he pushed? How the hell did Link manage to go through dozens of these rooms? “ _Then_ after I pledge myself to the dark side—because prison food is terrible and I just wanted to go home—he dumps a baby on my lap and expects me: a male shadow who was never a baby himself, to magically know how to take care of it!” He grunted. “And now I have to do this _stupid puzzle_ —”

_Click!_

He leaned against the wall panting and glaring at the finished puzzle and the now opened door. “I hate my life. I really do.” At least Melody was still asleep. The goddesses took pity on him at least this much.

Maybe this lead to a way out. He was thankful he remembered to bring along the bag full of Melody’s things that he’d had some monsters steal for him. Magic was a wonderful thing. He never understood before where Link was keeping all of his weapons and tools until Dark Link gave him this bag. Milk stayed fresh and he was able to carry so many things and—why was he getting so excited over a bag?

Clearing his throat he walked through the doorway praying there wasn’t another puzzle on the other side. There wasn’t but there wasn’t a way out either but a dead end.

Choosing to not bang his head against the wall in frustration he instead investigated the room.

It was small and kind of reminded Shadow of Link’s forge back in Hyrule. There was a cold furnace in the corner of the room and workbenches all along the walls. Little black trinkets littered the floor and countertops. Most were misshapen or broken but one stood out to him. It was a little black triangle pendant on a chord. There didn’t seem to be any mistakes or blemishes on it.

Shadow was confused as he picked up the chord and let the pendant dangle. Did Dark Link have a secret hobby of jewelry making? He placed the pendant in his hand to study it further when the air started to vibrate.

The triangle glowed a sickening shade of purple and a portal appeared in front of him.

“There’s…a way out…” He let out a shout of joy. “I don’t even care when this spits me out! I’m free!”

Melody shifted in her sleep and Shadow froze with both hands in the air. “Sorry!” He whispered and plunged right into the portal.

He took two steps out of the portal and had to sit down to let his insides calm down. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the portal disappear meaning Dark Link wasn’t following them. If he was at all lucky it would be some time before Dark Link noticed his absence.

Once he wasn’t on the verge of losing his lunch he took the time to survey his surroundings. It definitely wasn’t his own Hyrule that was for sure. There was something off about this place. The sun was high in the sky and yet it was still so dark. It was like the air had been tainted with evil.

And…there was something familiar about it.

 _Ganon._ He gulped. That was the evil he felt but it was old like an ugly scar that had healed over years ago. _Is this the Dark World?_ Long after Link’s time at one of the points where the timeline split Ganon had won somehow. He won and corrupted the Sacred Realm turning it into the Dark World.

Then this time must belong to either the Hero of Hyrule or the Hero of—of Legend.

With a jolt, he realized the spot on his chest where Melody had been curled up against wasn’t as warm as it should be. When he looked down he was greeted by the sight of an empty sling.

“Oh, goddesses. Oh, goddesses. No. No. No. No. No.” He stood and spun around in circles but the baby was nowhere to be seen. His heart was pounding against his chest. “Oh my goddesses, Shadow! You literally had one job! _One_!” He was about to go searching through the nearby bushes when he heard a little noise come from the sling.

He carefully peered inside and sitting there in the folds of the sling was a little white bunny with pink-tipped ears. Shadow picked the bunny up and cupped it in his hands. “Melody?”

If rabbits could cry he was sure this one would have. Her big brown eyes shook with fear and confusion.

“You’re safe!” Shadow nearly cried in joy. “Well, you’re a bunny so I guess I wouldn’t really call that safe and—oh my goddesses you’re a bunny! Why are you a bunny?” Melody blinked and rubbed her head against his thumb.

A high-pitched voice came from below and something bounced off his ankle.

“Because this is the Dark World, Mister.” Shadow looked and looked but couldn’t find the source of the voice. “Down here!” He looked down at the ball that he’d been hit with in confusion. He almost dropped Melody when he noticed the ball had a face.

“What the hell?”

“You must be special like that boy in green if you’re able to keep your original form here. You see, this place was once like Hyrule but evil has made it this way. And the Golden Power changes our shapes to reflect what’s in our heart and mind. I’m always changing my mind so that’s why I’ve been turned into this ball. That’s why your friend there has been turned into a bunny. It’s funny, it looks a bit like that pink rabbit I met before the boy in green showed up.”

Shadow was still stuck on the fact that a little pink ball was talking to him. “Do you know how I can turn her back?”

The ball nodded, or rolled? It was hard to tell. “If you have a Moon Pearl then you’ll be able to keep your original form in the Dark World. But,” the ball sighed and looked about as dejected as a ball could. “That boy in green took the Moon Pearl in this mountain years ago.”

Shadow facepalmed. It could have just said no and been done with it. The boy in green the ball kept mentioning was probably one of the heroes. _I’m just going to open up another portal and if leaving the Dark World doesn’t fix this then once I catch up with them they should be able to help._

He pulled the triangle out of his pocket and waited for the magic to be released and a portal to appear. He waited. And waited…and…waited…

All the while the pink ball was still going on about how long it’s been since it first entered the Dark World.

“Why isn’t this working?” He gently placed Melody back in the sling and started to press the triangle with both hands. Last time a portal had appeared instantly when he touched it so why was it taking so long this time? He flipped it over and his stomach dropped. Numbers were carved at the bottom and they slowly ticked down like a clock.

_Oh, please don’t tell me this thing has a cool down time!_

If it really was a cool down then that meant they had well over a day before he could create another portal. They couldn’t stay in one place that long! They were as good as sitting ducks out here and he was too afraid to travel around a lot while Melody was stuck as a bunny.

“Dammit!” He looked down at the ball who was rolling around a bit. “Hey, ball! This moon bead thing-a-ma-jig,”

“Moon Pearl,”

“Whatever. Are you sure the hero—I mean the boy in green has the only one?”

“Well,” the ball thought on it. “He has the only one on this mountain.”

“So that means there could be others out there?”

If a ball could shrug then it just did. “How should I know? I’ve never left this mountain.”

Shadow’s eye twitched and he couldn’t help himself as he kicked the ball away with all his might. “Then why did you bring it up in the first place?” He screamed in frustration.

“Hey!” Shadow turned and saw a deformed demon-monster-thing coming his way. “Who do you think you are, kicking someone’s friend around? Only _I_ get to kick him around! Got it?”

It must have been another transformed Hylian. It stood about eye-level with Shadow but wasn’t even half as intimidating as some of the monsters Dark Link kept around. Shadow shrugged. “Not my fault he wouldn’t tell me anything useful and wasted my time.”

The newcomer glowered at Shadow. “If you’re here looking for a Moon Pearl you’re too late. If I’d known that kid took the last one on the mountain I would have taken it from him then.”

“So then there _are_ others outside the mountain?”

The demon thing scoffed. “Yeah, sure but you’d have to be pretty stupid to leave this mountain. What with all the monsters lurking about.”

“Where is it?” Monsters he could handle. Actually, they might just leave him alone because of his nature as a shadow himself.

The demon thing looked at him as if he was already imagining Shadow’s funeral. “I heard rumors of a second pearl south of Lake Hylia but that’s on the other side of Hyrule, you’d have to be suicidal to even want to go there.” He didn’t stay to hear the rest of what the demon thing was trying to say and headed south with the sun on his right.

_If it turns out I have to go through a dungeon to find the stupid thing I will never let Link hear the end of it!_

Around the same time, the group of heroes were on the road again when a portal appeared quite literally before their eyes.

Four had been so caught off guard that he tripped over his feet and fell backward.

“Well, I guess that answers where we’re headed next,” Warriors said. Legend rolled his eyes. He was still a bit miffed at the captain—even though this morning he’d been cornered by him and was assaulted with an apology for prying too much.

It was…tough leaving Lon Lon Ranch and telling Talon and Malon goodbye. Especially Talon. He kept playing the last time he saw Tarin over and over again in his head and that had put him in another mood that his lack of sleep didn’t help.

Sky wasn’t too happy with him when he found him this morning, not having slept a wink, and lectured his ear off from the moment they woke up to about five minutes before the portal appeared.

Twilight was still avoiding him and Legend had no idea what he’d done to deserve that. The others were just as confused. Whenever he’d try to confront Twilight about it he’d change the subject and weasel his way out of conversing with him.

Before they walked through the portal Legend looked around. “Where’s that wolf? Are you really okay with leaving it behind?” Twilight’s shoulders stiffened and he averted his gaze yet again.

“You don’t need to worry about him.”

“Yeah…he always seems to find us, doesn’t he Twi?” Wild and Twilight had an argument using only their eyes and from the looks of things, Twilight won.

“Why don’t you go first, cub?” He pushed Wild through the portal and followed right after.

Legend was weirdly glad to be moving through time again. He knew the shadow hadn’t taken Melody to Time’s era, he could just feel it. A small part of him was excited to see where they would end up next but that excitement was quickly squashed as the portal deposited them in a very familiar place: his doorstep.

Irritation bubbled underneath his skin. They were moving backward! Going back to his Hyrule was taking him farther away from Melody!

“What the—?” Wind started. “Weren’t we just here?”

Legend kicked the base of his apple tree. “You’ve got to be f—!” Before he could finish shouting profanities his front door flew open and a big purple mass ran into him. The others—except the Captain oddly enough—were quick to draw their swords and point them at the man clinging to him for dear life. Legend, on the other hand, held back a sigh.

“Mr. Hero!” Ravio cried. “You were gone so long! And then Princess Zelda said you were back only for you to be gone off on another adventure!”

Time cleared his throat. “Friend of yours?”

“Everyone—” he tried his best to untangle their limbs and to push Ravio off him but the merchant held on tight. So Legend stomped on his foot.

“Ow!” Ravio hopped back on one foot while holding the other in his hands. If he could see underneath his hood he was sure he’d see his eyes filled to the brim with crocodile tears.

“Everyone, this is Ravio. Ravio, this is everyone. You can put your swords away, he’s mostly harmless.” The others slowly sheathed their weapons after exchanging confused looks. “What are you doing here?”

And just like that, the tears were dried up and it was one of those rare times where Ravio was acting serious. “I didn’t want to bother you if you were already on another quest but I had no other choice. You see, Lorule’s in trouble.”

That piqued his interest but he immediately chastised himself. _It doesn’t matter if this is Ravio, no side quests!_ He shook his head.

“I’m sure you and Hilda will be able to figure it out, they’ve got you after all. Hero of Lorule.” He felt bad about the jab right away. He’d never poked fun at Lorule’s history of failed heroes before but he didn’t have time to fix their problems this time, they had to learn to do it themselves.

Hyrule looked at him in shock that he would say such a thing. “But you haven’t even heard what he has to say yet.”

“Have you forgotten we’re already on a quest?”

“Still, you could at least hear your friend out! You don’t need to be so rude about it!”

“Rude?” Legend exclaimed. “I’m sorry, but we don’t have time to—!” Warriors shoved him and cut him off.

“What Le—Link here is trying to say is we’d be glad to help out.”

“Cap—!” He nudged him in the arm again and Legend was sure it was going to leave a bruise.

“What kind of heroes would we be if we ignored the cries for help from an old comrade?” Before Legend could question his word choice Ravio rushed forward and shook Warriors’ hand enthusiastically.

“Sir Hero, it’s you! I never thought we’d be seeing each other again but if you’re here,” he stopped mid-shake. “Does that mean time is being messed with again? And—!” Ravio gasped.

“Then, Mr. Hero, did you really get pulled into another quest? After you’ve already been through five?”

_Why am I even surprised at this point?_

Ravio knew the Captain somehow. It was a story he was going to squeeze out of one of them but at a later date. They’ve already wasted enough time standing around when they needed to be off in search of another portal.

Wild tipped his head to the side in confusion. “I thought you said you’ve been on six adventures?”

“I have,” he addressed Wild and pointed his finger at Ravio to close his mouth. “Later. Or never. But definitely not now.” One Koholint-related breakdown in the past 24 hours was enough for him and he wasn’t too keen on repeating the experience any time soon.

“So…” Wind’s voice broke through the semi-awkward silence that had settled on the group. “About this problem, what’s Lorule?”

Lorule was like the Dark World in a way. It sort of sat on Hyrule in a parallel dimension and he and Ravio explained as much to the others. It mirrored Hyrule in almost every way. Princess Zelda was Princess Hilda and Ganon was Yuga.

“So if everyone has a Lorulean counterpart does that mean you do too?” Sky asked. Ravio went quiet and tried to make himself seem smaller even though he’s told him a million times just how much his purple rabbit suit stood out in a crowd.

“Of course I do.” Legend pulled Ravio’s hood down to reveal his face. They were identical save for the hair and eye colors. It was the reason Ravio wore a hood when he traveled through Hyrule.

Ravio tried covering his face with his hands out of habit but must have realized these were Legend’s companions and they might not care that he shared the same face as the controversial hero and let his hands fall.

“What is the danger you were talking about?” Warriors asked.

Ravio frowned and thought about it. “Monsters started appearing out of nowhere—ones we’ve never seen in Lorule before. We’ve tried all we could to fight back but they’re too powerful for us to handle on our own.”

Legend took a step back, the other Links looked about as shocked as he felt. The portals were only supposed to link together different eras of time not between separate worlds!

Twilight stepped forward. “Have you come across a shadow? These monsters, did they bleed black by any chance?”

“I don’t know, I don’t think we’ve managed to injure them much.” Ravio looked between Legend and the other heroes with a hopeful glint in his eye. “Does this mean you and your friends will help?”

“I—” a sick feeling was making his stomach churn. This was why he needed to take his emotions out of the equation. He had gotten so narrow-minded in his worry that he almost made them miss something big. His heart was telling him that Melody was on the other end of a portal but that tug on his spirit was telling him staying and helping Lorule was the best course of action.

“How are you planning on getting everyone to Lorule?” Ravio’s eyes lit up like the winter sky-lights.

“I’ll go get a few more bracelets. Hilda will be overjoyed to hear this. Thank you, Mr. Hero. Thank you!” He ran off down the path and disappeared out of sight before anyone could comment.

“Now what?” Wind wondered.

“We’ll wait here, he won’t be long,” Legend grumbled. The sun was bright today. And hot.

“So, you going to let us inside this time, or do you still not trust us?” Hearing the words come from Sky he knew it was only a joke since the first time they met he barred them from stepping a single foot in his house. But that was only because Melody had been asleep upstairs.

A part of him didn’t even want to go in now that he was no longer numb from the shock of losing her but they were all looking at him expectantly. How could he refuse after the old man had been so gracious to let them stay in his home? It’s not like he had anything to hide in there anymore.

“Just don’t touch anything!” He yelled as he let the other Links into his home and so, of course, they did precisely the opposite. He noticed the letters that he’d shoved to the side of the door were now neatly piled on top of his kitchen table no doubt thanks to Ravio, and it looked like someone had gone and dusted the place for him. Over by the window Wind was gushing over his many instruments while Hyrule was amazed by the sheer amount of maps he owned. Legend panicked when he saw Wild pick up his magic mirror.

Over the past few days, he’s witnessed the scarred hero completely shatter three blades and a shield. How he managed to damage them that badly hurt the blacksmith inside of him and frustrated their smithy to no end.

“No. No. No.” He snatched the mirror out of his hands. “You break everything you touch and some of these items are delicate and irreplaceable!” Was it mean? Probably.

“That’s no ordinary mirror,” Wild said in astonishment.

He couldn’t respond because he had to stop Sky from playing the Harp of Ages. They were already dealing with enough time shenanigans they didn’t need anymore.

Twilight made a weird noise. When Legend realized what was wrong he practically sprinted to the kitchen. The older hero had picked up Melody’s toy that he’d left on the table when he left after vowing to Marin that he would stop at nothing to find her.

“Give me that!” He ripped the bird out of Twilight’s hand without thinking. All conversations and movement stopped around them. Everyone was looking at him, he could feel their curiosity burning the back of his head.

Twilight took a step back with his hands stretched outward. “I’m sorry, Vet. I didn’t know.” That was the first time since yesterday that Twilight had made full eye contact with him. Why did his eyes show so much fear and sadness?

Why did it almost feel as if he were apologizing for something else entirely?

“Yeah well, just…don’t touch anything.”

The golden goddesses took pity on him as Ravio burst through the door with his arms full of bracelets identical to the one on this own wrist. Not wanting Ravio to see the bird carving he shoved it in one of the pouches he had tied to his belt.

It occurred to Legend that neither he nor Ravio had taken the time to explain how the bracelets worked until they were standing in front of a crack that lead to Lorule.

“Um, Legend?” Four called his attention. “I think the entrance has been sealed.”

Ravio laughed good-naturedly. “Not at all! Once you use the bracelet you’ll be able to fit just fine!” Four was beginning to look uncomfortable.

Legend adjusted his bracelet. It’s been a while since he’s used it—he wasn’t even sure why he’d put it on when he left the first time.

“I’ll go first, show you how it’s done.” Without offering up any sort of warning he let the magic wash over him as his form changed shape.

It was an odd feeling, being a painting. He could still feel and see and hear but his sense of smell didn’t work. He never really thought about it before now but did he breathe as a painting?

No. He didn’t. Goddesses that was so weird.

As a painting, Legend walked along the wall and through the crack to enter Lorule. He released the magic almost immediately and waited for his companions. It took longer than he would have liked for everyone to come out on the other side. They had to wait even longer trying to explain to Sky, who had started to freak out, how to turn back to normal.

“It’s just as you said,” Time breathed in awe. “A mirrored image of Hyrule.” Everything was in the same place as it was in Hyrule—even the castle which was where Ravio was leading them. Ravio was explaining to them the history of Lorule as they walked.

About ten minutes down the road Legend stopped dead in his tracks. A cold chill ran through his body, like the old saying, it felt like someone walked over his grave. No…it felt like someone had walked right through him. But no matter where he looked there was no one else besides his companions—not even a ghost.

“Mr. Hero? Is everything alright?”

Legend was slow to nod. _That was…odd._

Shadow turned around and shivered at the weird feeling. Nothing was behind him but he could have sworn he walked right through something. Melody squeaked again.

“I know. I know. Come on, we’ve got to go get that pearl.”


	6. Statues and Lake Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heroes finally make it to Lorule Castle but their path is blocked by the biggest Eyegore Statue Legend has ever seen.

Their party reached the castle drawbridge fairly quickly but there was a large stone statue blocking their way. Ravio nearly jumped out of his skin and hid behind Legend.

“It’s another one of those things! They’re too big and move too fast for our archers to hit their eyes.” Legend would have been tempted to call it a Beemos or an Armos or even an Eyegore but he’s never seen one that looked like it before. Just in case Legend reached back into his bag to draw out his bow.

It stood tall on two legs, its arms looked strong enough to do some serious damage, and in the center of its egg-shaped head was a single large eye.

Beside him, Time stiffened. “Eyegore.” There was an unusual strain in his voice.

“I’ve never seen one that big before,” Four said with his bow already out with an arrow nocked. From the reactions of the others, it seemed Four, Time, and him were the only ones to have ever encountered the frustrating statues before. By process of elimination that meant they belonged to Time’s era. Which explained his reaction.

“It looks like it’s made of stone,” Wild mused as he approached it with little caution. “How bad can it be?”

 _How bad can it be?_ Legend raced forward and yanked on the back of Wild’s tunic to pull him back into the group, hoping he hadn’t gotten close enough to wake it up.

“Where’s your self-preservation? You can’t just walk up to a statue unarmed! That’s just asking to be impaled!” First Hyrule turns his back on an enemy and now Wild was about to go wake up an Eyegore statue without knowing what it could do. Didn’t these people have _any_ common sense?

Everyone was giving Wild the same look. Even Twilight hit him upside the head.

“I would have thought you of all people would be the wariest of something like this.” He gestured to the scars on Wild’s face and arm. They were burns—likely from a laser but they looked too big and extensive to have come from a Beemos.

Wild narrowed his eyes at Twilight. “How can a stone statue be worse than a guardian?”

Time put a hand on Wild’s shoulder. He had his good eye closed so Legend couldn’t get a good read on the guy but the way his left hand twitched closer to the sword on his back and the tenseness in his shoulders still told him a lot.

_He would see something or someone would say the wrong thing and he’d get spooked and run off._

Time must have had a bad experience with this kind of monster during his adventures.

“We aren’t saying they’re worse but they can still be pretty tough to deal with when you’re unprepared.”

Wild opened his mouth to argue but must have finally read the mood and nodded falling back into position with the others. Some had their shields raised while others followed Legend and Four’s example and had their bows out.

“Alright, old man, tell us what we need to do. My Eyegores were all really straight forward: shoot ‘em in the eye and they’re as good as dead.” Legend said as he tested his bowstring.

Four nodded in agreement. “Same here. They move pretty slow too—usually gives you enough time to aim.”

Legend frowned and thought back to his original journey when he first encountered an Eyegore within the eastern palace. They charged at him so fast that until he was comfortable enough with his bow he was forced to run and hide. He once spent an hour hiding in a tight alcove from one that was insistent in finding him.

“Not with these,” Time told them. “You’ll have to be quick on your feet. If you get too close it’ll slam its fists on the ground causing rocks to fly up and hit you. They’re only vulnerable to arrows so don’t waste your time with the sword. Strike when its eye turns yellow and watch out for the lasers.”

Time took out his bow and was the first to approach the Eyegore. Legend was about to join him when Time’s words sunk in. “Hang on! Yours shoots _lasers_?”

“Just…try to avoid them as best you can.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ravio nervously clutching a hammer. He opened his mouth to tell him to go and hide until they handled this but the Captain clapped Ravio on his shoulder.

“It’s an honor to fight by your side again, merchant.” To which Ravio chuckled shakily.

Legend raised an eyebrow at the purple-hooded Lorulean.

“Ah! Mr. Hero, it’s a long story. You see—”

Sky stepped in between them. “And one I’m sure will be better heard after we deal with this.”

The Eyegore was several heads taller than him and not at all like he was used to. And he thought the ones from his time were scary—granted he was 10 at the time but this…This thing looked like something out of a nightmare in comparison. He was starting to want to take back what he said about the others having it easy.

As Time neared the Eyegore the ground beneath them rumbled. Its stone arms began to shake until its massive eye popped open. Not yellow so the Links held their fire.

Until the Eyegore started to flail its arms in rage.

“Brace yourselves!” Time yelled as it brought its hands down on the ground hard enough that Legend and a few others lost their footing and fell down.

As Legend’s luck would have it, a nice sized rock became dislodged from the ground and was headed straight for him. _Shit!_ He managed to roll out from underneath its trajectory just as it crashed back into the ground. Another rock landed inches away from his face. He dropped his bow somewhere in the confusion as he continued to dodge the rocks, unable to find an opportunity to stand.

Four and Wind were in similar situations on the ground holding their shields over their heads to protect themselves from the onslaught of rocks raining down. Ravio was busy hitting the rocks away from Warriors who was sporting a nasty cut on the side of his head. He was still conscious but wasn’t looking too good.

The ones who had managed to stay standing were now firing all they had at the Eyegore. Legend really thought they had it until he heard the whine of a laser warming up. Twilight must have heard it too because he dropped his own bow and charged at the monster. He didn’t manage to tackle it to the ground but caught it off guard enough that the laser that had been aimed at Legend’s head fired off into the sky instead.

Legend was quick to snap out of his stupor and used the momentary lull in combat to hide behind his mirror shield so he could search for a weapon to use. He grabbed the first thing his hand came in contact with and nearly screamed in frustration at the sight of his ocarina.

Why did he even bring this stupid thing along? He was running out of time but a thought occurred to him and he decided he was going to make the best of his bad situation.

When the Eyegore had fired his laser, Legend heard the squawking from a flock of birds and several thumps behind him. Bringing the ocarina to his lips he played the song of soul again and watched the magic from the song bring the small charred bodies back to life. The birds were alive again looking as good as new and with eyes full of rage, with the magic in his ocarina, he urged the small creatures to help them in return for bringing them back to life.

The birds were more than willing as they started to dive bomb the Eyegore. They pecked at its eye and drew its laser fire away from the others and so long as it was swinging its arms trying to bat the birds away it wasn’t able to smash the ground.

While the Eyegore was distracted Legend ran over to Ravio and the Captain. His eyes were out of focus so when he tried to stand Legend pushed him back down.

“Not a chance pretty boy!” He went digging around his bag for a potion. When he found the bottle full of red potion he went to bring it up to Warriors’ mouth but he pushed his hand away.

“No, ‘m fine,” Warriors said with a bit of a slur. “Save it, someone might need it.”

“Yeah, and that someone is you. If I had to take one for my shoulder then there is no reason you shouldn’t have to take it. Head injuries aren’t something you take lightly so shut up and take the damn potion already!”

Warriors looked like he wanted to argue more but Legend wasn’t having it. He didn’t force the liquid down his throat like Hyrule had done to him but he didn’t move the bottle away from the Captain’s face until he agreed to take it. The other hero winced at the taste but swallowed it nonetheless. Color was already returning to his face.

“Am I concussed or did you summon a flock of demon birds just now?” He felt the corners of his mouth lift up. That _would_ be a useful spell, wouldn’t it?

“You’re concussed.”

A loud sound of cracking stone came from the direction of the Eyegore. Legend turned in time to see it flailing its arms as it fell to its knees. It exploded into a million tiny pieces and he couldn’t help the sigh of relief that escaped his lips at the sight.

Wild wiped a bit of sweat and blood off his forehead. “Are all of your statues like that?”

Four was still on the ground expecting the damage done to both his shield and Wind’s. “More or less, some come chasing after us with spears.”

“Or swords,” Legend added.

Hyrule was rubbing his temple. “Honestly, Armos are the _worst_. Especially when they’re in groups. So unpredictable.”

“I’ll say!” Wind cried out as he fell back against the grass dramatically. “Not to mention weapons are useless on them except for one little spot!” This must just be another example of things changing across time. The monsters they’ve all faced are similar but different enough that they could almost be a separate species altogether.

Legend looked over at his companions. Eyegore statues were always a mostly simple enemy that only took an arrow or two. To think it took this much energy…and there was only one of them.

Twilight came over rubbing his wrist. “Alright, sound off, who’s got injuries?”

Legend pointed his thumb at Warriors as he went to go search for his bow in the wreckage. “I gave him a potion but I’m pretty sure he’s got a concussion.” Other than Warriors there weren’t too many injuries. Wild had a small cut above his eye that may have just been from shrapnel and from the way Twilight was holding his wrist Legend would say it was sprained. As they went through their routine of patching up wounds, Legend found his bow remarkably unharmed.

“Mr. Hero?” Ravio called out to him quietly now that they were a little away from the others. “That song you played…I don’t think I’ve heard you play it before.”

He made sure his bow was tucked safely back in his bag before responding. “That’s part of the ‘later or never’.” He tried to rejoin the group but Ravio held onto his elbow. There was something sad in his eyes and maybe pity? A lot of people were looking at him like that recently and Legend has had enough of it.

“Where have you been this past year, Mr. Hero, that made you learn a song like that?”

Legend looked up at the afternoon sun. He knew one of these days he was going to have to tell Ravio the truth but now wasn’t that time.

He shrugged as nonchalantly as he could and tried to make sure his irritation could be heard loud and clear. “I learned it from a frog one day is all.” The look Ravio gave him told him he didn’t quite believe him but made no move to call him out on it.

Once everyone was ready they made their way to Lorule Castle with no other obstacles in their way. Time had been oddly quiet since the encounter with the Eyegore but everyone valued their lives too much to question him about it.

With how similar Lorule was to Hyrule Legend couldn’t help but remember the last time he stepped foot in the castle. He brought his hand subconsciously up to his chest where Melody had been snuggled up.

“Everything okay, Legend?” Hyrule asked softly. The two of them took up the rear of the group.

“Yeah,” he lied. “Everything’s fine. I just want to get this over and done with.” Everything was not fine. He was tired and homesick for a place that never existed in the first place and all he wanted was his daughter back. He was not fine.

They walked in silence for a while before Hyrule piped up again. “You know you can trust us, right?” That made Legend trip over his own feet. He looked over at the brown-haired teen in bewilderment. Hyrule wasn’t looking at him. “You’re not as much of a mystery as you might like to think you are, you’re a very easy person to read.”

He knew he was but it was still a surprise to have someone tell him that. It had been a habit he picked up when he was little and didn’t talk much so he’d always made sure his expressions told people what his words couldn’t. Now that he was more comfortable with speaking he had no idea how to break himself of that habit.

“I’m not lying, I really do want all this to be over.” He couldn’t tell the others about Melody, not after waiting this long. Besides, it would only make things more complicated and…what if they started to see him differently. His adventure on Koholint wasn’t very heroic.

Luckily he was saved from having to finish the conversation by the Lorulean guards announcing their presence to Princess Hilda.

Hilda was Zelda’s Lorule counterpart but like him and Ravio, their personalities were very different. Including their decisions when faced with desperation. Although he and Zelda forgave her long ago he could never forget the day she brought about Ganon’s resurrection to take the Triforce for her kingdom. Yeah, yeah, she had good reasons and all—that’s why he forgave her—but still, that was his third time facing Ganon.

Princess Hilda was seated on her throne overlooking a handful of documents when they entered the throne room. A smile graced her face when she recognized him.

“Link! Thank the goddesses! When Ravio told me you were lost at sea I feared the worst.” _Yeah, so much that you tried to convince Ravio I was dead._ “But now that you are here I must thank you for coming to Lorule’s aid once again.”

Sky stepped forward and knelt before her throne. “Your highness, if I may. These monsters Ravio has told us about, we’ve been tracking them for some time now and would appreciate any information you may have. No matter how insignificant you may think it to be.”

It was a little odd to see because Legend never bothered with protocol really whether he was in Hyrule or Lorule and from some of the raised eyebrows and eye rolls most of the others didn’t bother with it either.

Above Sky’s head, Hilda gave him a look that clearly said: _Why don’t you ever treat me with this much respect?_

 _Because I almost died for you, that’s why._ He wasn’t bitter about his experience in Lorule…not at all.

If she was any less of a princess she would have rolled her eyes at him. Instead, she told Sky to stand and began to fill them in. Monsters they have never seen before—like the Eyegore that had taken up residence at the front of the castle—were popping up all over Lorule. More statues had been found within the castle and all over Lorule. But it wasn’t just the Eyegores.

“The attacks started coming a few days ago. At first, we thought it was a group of people planning a rebellion in the midst of the chaos but no normal person could move like that.” Even she couldn’t hide her pained expression. “We’ve already lost so many knights to their raids.”

“Is there anything more you can tell us?” Time asked. He was hiding his shaking fist behind his back but to the rest of them, it was clear to see. “What did they look like? What sort of weapons did they use?”

“They’re short and all of them wear cloaks—no one has seen their faces. And they are master swordsmen, wielding two blades at once. We have a vague idea of where their base might be located as all of the attacks so far have all been close to Lorule Lake. I sent a patrol there two days ago and none of my knights have returned.”

Four stepped forward a little. “Have you noticed anything else? Has anyone reported on seeing odd things like a shadow?”

The princess tilted her head in confusion. “A shadow? Do all things not have shadows in Hyrule? Seeing one’s shadow has never been cause for alarm before.”

“That’s not what he meant,” Legend cut in. “It’ll be a figure dressed all in dark that might look like one of us.”

“No,” she shook her head. “No one has come forth with any information about a suspicious person as of yet but I can have my guards be on the lookout.”

 _Dammit._ He kicked at the polished marble floor. He knew it was fruitless to hope for clues to Melody’s whereabouts but he couldn’t help it.

_Just hang on a little longer, Melody, I’m getting closer. I can feel it._

Hilda didn’t have much more information than that so after a very short lunch, they decided to try their luck with Lorule Lake. Ravio had opted to stay behind with the princess. Not that Legend could blame him.

They let Legend lead the way since he was the most familiar with this place. The walk through Lorule was surprisingly uneventful and if both Ravio and Hilda hadn’t said monsters were attacking he wouldn’t have believed it.

Wind was the one to break the silence first. “So, does anyone recognize the monsters the princess described?” Legend sure didn’t. Honestly, if it turns out it really is a bunch of rebels he’ll join them and they can all laugh as they watched Lorule Castle burn to the ground.

No one else spoke up.

Time then sighed heavily. “They’re called Garo.” Legend didn’t recognize the name. “They may appear Hylian physically but they are far from it. They’re nothing more than empty shells.”

So then, what’s got you all tied up in knots?” Wind pressed dangerously. “Are they that difficult to defeat?”

The older hero shook his head. “No. If you can manage to block an attack it’ll leave them wide open. It’s just…” He glared up at the sky where a crescent moon can be picked out amongst the clouds. There was bitterness in his eye one that Legend was all too familiar with.

_These monsters shouldn’t be here and not just because of the time travel._

“Oh,” Legend didn’t realize he’d spoken out loud until Wind spun around to face him. Now, Legend understood the surprise on Wind’s face but once that surprise turned into something of a mutual understanding was when he became confused.

Did they just agree on something? Did he zone out and miss part of the conversation?

They weren’t far away from the castle when he heard a rustling in the trees to the right of them. All nine heroes had their swords drawn and shields raised ready to defend against these so-called master swordsmen. Only to be disappointed when a few blue, round blobs appeared out of the undergrowth.

“Chuchu’s…” Wild groaned and brought out his slate. “Eh, I guess I _am_ running a bit low on red Chuchu jelly.” He pressed a few buttons and a fire arrow appeared in his hand. Chuchu’s were the kind of monster that you almost felt bad for killing—except the electric kinds those ones deserved death.

The slime creatures exploded leaving behind little red blobs that radiated a whole lot of heat. It never ceased to amaze him watching items disappear into Wild’s slate. The way they turned into strips of blue light. Melody would be absolutely mesmerized by it.

Legend winced at the sudden pain in his heart and he felt his lunch go sour in his stomach. But he knew Hyrule was still watching him so he forced a neutral expression on his face and tried to walk as normally as possible. They made it to Lorule Lake shortly thereafter with little to no incidence.

However, the lake was completely empty of monsters.

“I don’t get it,” Sky said. “This _is_ Lorule Lake, right?”

“Unless they’ve changed names since the last time I was here, yes, it is.” Legend even threw a rock into the water just to make sure but nothing stirred.

He heard Time unsheathe his sword. “Don’t drop your guard just yet.” And sure enough, before Legend even had time to reach for his sword they were surrounded by a dozen or more little cloaked figures.

“Steel yourselves!” The Captain yelled as the Garos launched their attack.

Hilda hadn’t been lying when she praised their swordcraft. Legend, who wasn’t half bad with a sword himself, was struggling to keep up. What had Time said? Block their attack and it’ll leave them wide open? Sure great advice if he was able to actually block an attack properly.

When he managed to do it he was convinced it had been a complete fluke for half of a second. The Garo reeled back trying to catch its balance but Legend never gave it the chance and slashed downward with all the force he could muster. It screeched and exploded in a cloud of blue mist. He really hoped that meant it was dead and not retreating like what Wild told him about the Yiga foot soldiers.

He wasn’t given the chance to catch his breath because as soon as that Garo disappeared another took its place. Legend was starting to feel overwhelmed as the Garos pushed them back towards the lake. When his feet hit the water the real panic started to set in.

From across the battlefield, he noticed half of the Garos had corralled Four, Sky, Wind, and Wild towards higher ground while the remaining Garos fought the rest of them at the edge of the lake.

_Shit! How did we manage to get separated?_

He was able to kill his Garo by another stroke of luck and went to go help Warriors fight. They still weren’t sure if the Captain had a concussion or not but all Legend knew in the moment was Warriors wasn’t doing too well against his opponent.

Legend stabbed the Garo right through the back exactly how he had imagined stabbing the old knight back in Hyrule for calling Melody a bastard. It also disappeared in a puff of blue smoke.

Warriors was panting and was looking a bit pale again. “Thanks, Vet.”

“Don’t mention it.” Legend turned to see how the others were faring with their own battles and his feet moved on their own when he saw Hyrule trying to fight off two at once but he was stopped by another Garo along the way. Their swords clashed together making an awful scraping noise.

This one was either faster than the others or he was more tired than he originally thought he was. The Garo pushed him back to the lake again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Warriors engage in battle with another one as well. _Was there no end to these things?_

He made a mistake as sunlight glinted off the Garo’s blade and into his eye. The Garo managed to trip him up and he fell backward into the water. Legend had lost grip on his sword and was frantically searching for it as the Garo slashed relentlessly against his shield.

The Garo hit him hard enough to get him to lower his shield. The next moment all happened so fast. He finally found his sword in all of the silt but would have been too slow to block the attack. But just as the Garo had his sword raised above his head an arrow sprouted from the center of its forehead. It disappeared leaving Legend to gap at the battle a quarter of the way around the lake where he saw Wild holding a glinting golden bow for a brief second before going back to battling the Garos on the hill.

Twilight was there to help him back onto his feet. “He’s a scarily accurate archer when he wants to be.”

Legend searched the lake area for any remaining Garos but there was only one left and that one disappeared as soon as it was stabbed by Hyrule’s magic sword. They were going to go help the others once they caught their breath.

“How’s your head, Captain?” Time asked as he pushed his sweat-soaked hair out from his eyes. Warriors was looking about the same as the last time Legend saw him.

“I’ll live,” he said waving their looks of concern off. Hyrule frowned and started to wade through the shallow water. It looked like their help wasn’t needed up on the hill after all. Sky waved and gave them a thumbs up. They were going to wait up there.

“At least take a potion first.” Hyrule was digging around in his bag while Warriors tried to argue that he didn’t need one. “How long have we been traveling together? You know that shit’s not going to work on me.”

He must not have been feeling too bad because he fake gasped with a badly concealed smile. “Who taught you that word?”

Hyrule rolled his eyes as Time and Twilight both laughed. Even Legend couldn’t help but chuckle. The leftover adrenaline was getting to him and was keeping him from going into shock. He’d come close to dying today. It didn’t freak him out as much as it should have. Maybe the thing Hyrule had said to him the first day they met was coming true for him as well. What if he’s gotten too used to fighting with others around to have his back in a pinch.

Hyrule had found the potion he was looking for and was reaching out to hand it to Warriors when it happened. One second he was there and laughing and the next he was gone—submerged underwater.

“Hyrule!” Adrenaline surged in his system tenfold as he remembered something from an earlier conversation.

_Hyrule can’t swim._

He put as much air in his lungs as he possibly could and dove down after the brown-haired teen. The water was murky and he couldn’t see very clearly but there he was! About ten feet below him, Hyrule was struggling against a gigantic snake. It had Hyrule’s side in between its teeth and red blood trailed above them in a sickening scene.

Legend was vaguely aware of three splashes above him, he only focused on reaching Hyrule in time. To his left, he saw Time change his form into a Zora—how he managed to do that was a question for a different time. The now Zora-Time said something that Legend heard as clearly as he would have above the surface.

“Electricity!” A look of understanding flashed in Hyrule’s eyes and he snapped—or at least made the motion of snapping. Green lightning surged from his fingertips and conducted through the water absolutely _frying_ the giant water snake thing.

Good news: Hyrule was free.

Bad news: Hyrule was bleeding heavily from his side and couldn’t swim.

Even worse news: That Water snake wasn’t the only monster down here.

Skeletal fish circled them. Time, Twilight, and Warriors—how he was able to swim with all that armor Legend had no idea—they held them at bay while he dove deeper to reach Hyrule. The kid’s eyes were half-open like he was trying so hard to stay awake but between the blood loss and lack of oxygen, Legend knew he was fighting a losing battle.

Legend held onto the kid for dear life and kicked upward with all the strength he had left but he was starting to see stars. As his vision started to fade the last thing he saw was his other three friends battling away in the water above them.

_Melody, I’m sorry…_

Both he and Hyrule lost consciousness and drifted towards the bottom of the lake.

Meanwhile, in the Dark World, Shadow sat on the ground with his back against a tree trying to catch his breath. Melody had gotten tired of being cooped up in the sling all day so for now, she was curled up on the top of his head.

“That is the last time I ever listen to talking animals.” He just spent the last hour circling the lake but nowhere did he see an entrance to a cave or temple or anything. There were no clues besides a strange green bird telling him to look below the lake for the Moon Pearl. But he _did_. _Multiple times_!

On the bright side, it was kind of peaceful, sitting near the lake. He was right, monsters had left him alone the whole journey down the mountain. Some even made a point to run away from him.

Shadow contemplated just waiting out the rest of the time until he could make another portal even though he still had like 18 hours or some other ridiculous amount of time left. Melody shifted on top of his head.

She didn’t deserve to be stuck as a rabbit though. He wished she really could understand him because he wanted to apologize so badly to her for putting her through something that was probably very traumatizing.

“A few more minutes,” he told her. “Then I’ll go look again.”

The longer he spent away from Dark Link’s dungeon the more hopeless he was beginning to feel. He was afraid he may have jumped on the chance to escape too early. He didn’t have much useful information and he had no way of controlling where or when the portal spits him out. It could take way longer than he would like to find the right time period the heroes were in all while keeping off of Dark Link’s radar.

But he also knew that place wasn’t fit for a baby and Melody had needed out as soon as possible. _Even if I ended up putting her in more danger by leaving._

“An odd place to rest, traveler,” a scratchy female voice hissed. On instinct, Shadow placed Melody back in the sling and held out his sword he’d found along the way. A green, starved and battle-scarred mountain lion prowled closer to Shadow. He placed his free hand over the part of the sling where Melody lay as an extra layer of protection.

The lioness circled him like he was her prey.

“How about this? You leave me alone and I don’t kill you. Sound fair?” Shadow asked as he gripped the hilt of his blade tighter.

The lioness sat back on her haunches and was either laughing or coughing up a furball. “So the little shadow has decided he wants to play hero? Alright then.” Shadow never saw the bird coming as it snatched the sling off his neck and carried Melody away.

“No!” He lunged for the bird—the same green bird who had given him directions—but the lioness pounced at the same time and pinned him to the ground with her claws digging into his shoulders.

“Show me your courage, little hero’s shadow,” she growled into his ear and the world disappeared from beneath him.


	7. Dungeons and Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadow is faced with many obstacles in order to save Melody.

Now, it wasn’t like Shadow passed out or anything. No. The ground _literally_ disappeared from beneath him. He screamed as he fell for what felt like miles when in reality may have been a few feet. _Goddesses! No! No, this is not how I’m going to die!_

He was too busy screaming and freaking out to realize he landed softly on the ground already.

He peaked an eye open and he almost wished the fall had taken his life. It was a room with two locked doors and eight lit torches in sconces—four on each side of him. It was a dungeon. An actual goddess forsaken dungeon. Hylia kill him now.

“No! No way!” He screamed at the ceiling. “I refuse to take part in your little game! Give me the little girl back _now_ and I’ll consider forgetting this ever happened!” Unsurprisingly no one responded.

He sat with his back to the doors and folded his arms. He wasn’t going to do it. No dungeons. No puzzles. _But Melody…_ He’ll just have to find another way out of here. _But just imagine how mad the Hero of Legend would be if he finds out you left his daughter to the mercy of a lion._

Shadow shivered at the mental image and slowly turned back around to observe the room with a grimace. The floor was in a mosaic pattern with five different colored squares—one at each corner and one in the middle. Did he have to put something there? He surveyed the room and found four dust and cobweb-covered clay pots sitting in the far corner.

Sighing to himself he moved each pot and placed them on the four outer squares.

Nothing happened.

So he tried putting them on in a certain order.

Nothing happened.

Shadow yelled in frustration again. There was nothing special about the pots they all looked the same with no unique markings so what was he missing? He was crossing the floor diagonally to go check on the other pot to see if he missed something when he stepped on the center tile.

_Ka-chink!_

The sound of a door unlocking made Shadow jump. He couldn’t believe it had actually worked so he spent a good two minutes just staring at the open door mouth agape.

Realizing he had a way out he sprinted towards the doorway.

Hopefully, this was like the room back in Dark Link’s dungeon. A one puzzle kind of deal _._

His hopes were squashed because he almost ran straight into a hole leading to an abyss. Not only that but it was _freezing_ too. A memory came to him as he looked out at the new room. One of Link telling his dad and grandpa about his original adventure with the Minish. He told them how he could shrink to their size and one of the dungeons he had to go through to find the water element took place entirely inside a crack in an iceberg.

They never outright said they didn’t believe him but Shadow knew they were at least a bit skeptical. Shadow believed him though. Even more so now as he stared at the maze of ice he was going to have to navigate.

He tested the stability of the ice bridge with his foot. It was insanely slippery, he was going to have to be careful going across. If only it were a straight path but _no_ the path was full of curves and sharp corners that were going to make this a living hell getting across.

He slowly started to make his way over—trying not to look down at the endless chasm below. There was a strange sound to his left like a mechanical whine. Chancing a look Shadow’s heart nearly failed him and he hit the deck, narrowly avoiding a Beamos’ laser beam.

“Are you kidding me?” The force from falling to his stomach caused him to slide forward a whole lot further forward than he would have liked. The abyss looked deeper than before as he came to a halt with his front half hanging precariously over the edge. He pushed back onto the path ever so slightly as to not cause him to slide off then the other way.

The Beamos was still firing relentlessly above him. “Great. Just great.” Now he was stuck laying on his stomach on a thin-as-shit bridge made of ice while under laser fire from a soulless mechanical monster. This just wasn’t his day. Or his week. Or month.

“Life was so much easier when I was dead!” He whined into the ice. “Why did you have to go and revive me, Dink?” All he wanted was to go back home and to make fun of Link without being seen or heard. The highlight of his day used to be making bunny ears on the small hero when he would be talking to someone important like the princess.

Bunny ears…

 _You need to keep going Shadow._ He slapped his cheeks to get a hold of himself. _This isn’t about you anymore, there’s a little girl counting on you to get through this._ Poor Melody was probably scared out of her mind right now.

Alright. Motivation surged through his veins. He could do it. He could get through this and save Melody. “I’ll show that lioness. I have courage too.” Shadow’s voice was small and shaky but he pushed on nonetheless.

Standing was going to be impossible with the lasers being fired off in all directions so he started sliding along on his belly like a penguin. It was easier to get along this way rather than walking even if it looked less cool like this.

_If Link could only see me now._

About three-quarters of the way across the chasm, the Beamos stopped firing its laser. Shadow didn’t stand because it would be just his luck that as soon as he stood it would start up again or another one would start up.

The ground on the other side was solid rock. “Praise the goddesses!” He kissed the ground and tried not to think of the fact that he’ll have to cross over it again once he had the key that unlocked the other door in the previous room.

A key that was probably in that chest over there against the far wall surrounded by square blocks.

Shadow stood hesitantly while keeping an eye on the now-dormant Beamos near the entrance. So far so good, he thought as he crept up to the chest flush up against the wall.

Shadow deserves a little forgiveness for thinking that, however, because this is his first dungeon after all. It’s not like he knew their little nuances or mechanics. It wasn’t like he knew that just by thinking that he was going to jinx himself.

A familiar roar came from behind him. It was a blue Moblin from his and Link’s time. It towered over him and Shadow was starting to have a hard time believing Link was able to take these things down when he was just a kid.

The Moblin charged at him and he almost didn’t get his sword up quick enough to block its attack. It was a very predictable kind of monster and it didn’t seem to be one of Dark Link’s infected ones so that was good news for him.

Instead of fighting the beast head-on like the dungeon clearly wanted him to, Shadow melted into its shadow and sprang up from behind to stab it in the back a few times until it died leaving him free to retrieve the key from the chest.

Getting back over the ice bridge was a bit easier now that he knew what he was doing but that didn’t stop his heart from racing as the Beamos started to fire again.

Shadow stood before the locked door and placed the key into the hole. He hadn’t even needed to turn it, the key just disappeared as soon as the door swung open. “Don’t worry, kid,” Shadow took a step into the next dungeon room. He could feel the confidence returning in his own voice. He could do this. He was going to make it through to the end. “I’m going to rescue you.”

Link held the rope tight as the storm raged around him. He knew the storm had been on its way. He was an idiot for thinking he could make it through on his tiny ship.

Waves angrily crashed against all sides and the wind was blowing him all over the place. There was no way his ship was going to make it out of here in one piece. He was going to die out here at sea.

A fitting end for an adventure-hungry hero. Link thought bitterly. There’ll be no gravestone for him save for the rotting wreckage of his ship on the seafloor.

Lightning flashed overhead. Ships don’t normally come out this far since there was nothing out here to be found so even if he managed to survive he wouldn’t be able to hope for a rescue. Link’s sword felt heavier on his back. If it came down to that he was prepared. Better to have a quick death than to starve or worse to drown.

Drowning was the last way he wanted to go.

Then again, maybe all of this lightning would go and do the hard part for him. A particularly large bolt of green lighting left the clouds and aimed right for him but instead of striking him it stopped inches away from his face and receded back into the sky. It had been doing that every once in a while for the past ten minutes or so. Like an electric yo-yo.

He was never lucky enough to have it strike him. No, he was stuck in this perpetual storm with no way out.

“You call this sailing?” Wind scoffed from beside him. He was seated on top of a barrel lazily flipping through a book—not noticing how wet the pages were getting or even when some flew away. “No wonder you’re going to crash.”

“Then help me!” Link shouted over the roar of the storm but Wind didn’t give any indication that he heard him and continued to turn the soggy pages of his book.

_Snap! Snap!_

Link now knew where all the lightning was coming from. Hyrule was sitting on the railing with his legs swinging over the temperamental sea. He was snapping his fingers and watching the waves rise and fall with a bored expression.

_Snap!_

“Hyrule! Help me steer out of this storm!” Hyrule would help him even if Wind didn’t.

Although, Link wasn’t prepared for his response.

“Why should I?” _Snap!_ This time the lighting struck the water a few feet away port side. Hyrule turned his head to look at Link over his shoulder. “After all, you didn’t help me.”

 _Snap!_ Link’s stomach dropped as the lightning struck the water even closer to his ship.

“You didn’t help me, Link. You let me drown in that lake.”

Link felt his grip loosen and a large wave knocked him down. He slid and hit the side railing of his ship hard. Wind was still sitting on the barrel unbothered by all the rocking but his book was nowhere to be seen, now he was ripping petals off a flower. A red hibiscus flower.

“No. No, Hyrule, I’m sorry!” Hyrule was now standing against the swaying mast with his arms folded. At least he wasn’t summoning more lightning. “I _tried_!”

If only he had been faster. If only he hadn’t hesitated.

“Please forgive me!” He pleaded with the young hero. He couldn’t tell if he was crying or if his face was soaked from the rain but he sure felt like crying.

Hyrule tilted his head to the side. “Forgive you? How can I? When your hands are stained with so much red.”

Link couldn’t help but look down at his hands and he yelped. How had he not noticed the warm, red liquid coating his hands and arms up to his elbows? Even with how much rain poured down on him his hands never came clean.

When he looked up Hyrule was gone and in his place stood Marin holding their sleeping Melody.

“Mar-Marin,” his voice cracked as he reached out to her with a blood-stained hand. “Please…”

“It looks like you got your wish, Link.” Her eyes were hard and there was a coldness in her voice that he’s never heard before. “You’re free from your burdens. You can be a hero again.”

“No! No, I never wished for that! Marin, please, you have to believe me!” The petals at the foot of the barrel Wind was sitting on looked so much like the blood on Link’s hands. “I never wanted that! I wished for you and Melody and the island!” The blood was starting to soak the rest of his body almost as if the clouds had stopped raining water and started raining blood instead.

Melody was crying softly in her mother’s arms.

“Marin!” The blood was getting so thick that he started to choke on it. He held his hands to his throat but the liquid quickly blocked his airways.

He was drowning.

Drowning on the blood of the people he failed to save.

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to focus on coughing the liquid up.

After what felt like hours he was able to breathe again as he lay on his side coughing all of it out of his lungs. Someone was talking but his ears were ringing so he couldn’t hear them properly. He managed to pry an eye open and his blurry vision was assaulted by the low light of a fire. No, multiple fires along the walls.

He felt weaker than ever before as he slowly regained consciousness.

“You still with us, Legend?” He recognized that voice. It was difficult for his tired brain to tell his body to move his head so he settled on his peripheral vision. Twilight was kneeling over him in an entirely different get-up. As opposed to the green tunic and wolf pelt cloak he was wearing a blue scaly thing.

His first thought was asking himself if Twilight was also here to blame him but he soon became fully aware he wasn’t at sea he was on land in what was starting to look like a dungeon room.

Legend propped himself up on his arm to cough up a few extra droplets of water.

 _Water. It was water in my lungs, not blood._ He tried hard to remember the event leading up to this but… _Hyrule!_ Legend sat up against his body’s wishes and scanned the area frantically for the other hero.

Twilight tried to get him to lay back down but Legend weakly pushed his hands away. “Where’s—?” his voice was scratchy but that’s not what made him stop. He sagged against Twilight’s shoulder in relief when his eyes landed on Hyrule sitting against a wall next to Warriors while Time dressed his wounds.

Hyrule was alive.

Tears pricked at his eyes. Hyrule was still alive but his dream-self was right. He should have been faster.

Hyrule noticed his gaze and gave him a weak smile that Legend did not deserve at all. He couldn’t stop himself from mumbling his apologies into Twilight’s shoulder.

“What?” Hyrule asked, his voice sounded stronger than Legend’s, he must have been awake longer.

Gathering up what little strength he had left he sat up on his own but Twilight still kept a hand on him to make sure he didn’t keel over again. “’m sorry, Hyrule.” The kid wasn’t bleeding as much from his side but Time still bandaged him up good.

“For what?”

Legend couldn’t look at him. He couldn’t bear to see the accusation in his eyes again. “I should have been fast enough, you almost drowned because I didn’t reach you in time.” The dungeon room fell into silence.

“Twi?” Hyrule asked in a calm tone.

“Yeah, ‘Rule?”

“Hit him for me.”

Legend snapped his head up and looked at the seething Hero of Hyrule. The Captain was snickering behind his hand and even Time was smiling as he finished up bandaging Hyrule up.

“Gladly,” Twilight stated as he hit Legend upside the head—not hard enough to hurt but it still stung.

Hyrule’s eye was twitching. “Has anyone ever told you that for a really smart guy you can be such an idiot?” Yes, actually. Both Marin and Zelda did frequently.

“But I—”

Time shook his head. “Unless you were the one who summoned the Deep Pythons you are one of the furthest from being at fault here.”

“Is that what those were?” Twilight asked quickly, Legend could tell he was desperately trying to change the topic from the blame game. It didn’t matter. No matter what they said it didn’t take away the guilt that had settled on his stomach.

Hyrule interrupted Time’s explanation of the monsters. “Twilight, hit him again, he’s still trying to blame himself.”

Twilight chuckled lightly and stood stretching his arms above his head. “He’s a stubborn one, Traveler. I doubt we’ll be able to beat it into him.”

“Doesn’t mean I won’t try. Legend, get over here so I can beat it into you!”

Legend blinked and looked at the kid who moments ago had been a hair's breadth away from death and looked like he couldn’t even shoo a fly away right now. The image of him trying to beat him up when he looked as weak as Legend felt struck him as funny.

He was going to blame it on the shock and the two near-death experiences he’s had in one day. It started as nervous giggles but soon turned into full out hysterical laughter that the others were quick to join in on.

“Alright, alright,” he said in between catching his breath. “You win.” It’s been so long since he last laughed—truly laughed—and forgot how great of medicine it was for his brain.

Once he and the others settled down he was able to focus more on the situation at hand. They were sitting in an unfamiliar dungeon room with two doors, both were locked.

“Sky, Four, Wind, and Wild are missing. Hopefully, they’re still above the surface and can return to the castle,” Warriors told him. “The entrance to this place must be under the lake somewhere.”

“What are you talking about? Don’t you know how we got here?” The last thing Legend remember was the three of them fighting the skeletal fish, they were all still conscious at the time.

“It happened so fast that we’re not really sure _what_ happened. But the next thing we knew we were here,” Twilight said.

“Is there anything we _do_ know?” Hyrule asked.

“Yeah, turns out our Captain does have a concussion.” Time clapped Warriors on the back. Legend just now noticed how pale he looked in the firelight.

“Really?” Legend attempted to stand on his shaky legs. “How do you figure?”

Twilight helped him steady himself. At least he wasn’t avoiding him now. “I asked him to solve the puzzle while Time and I focused on reviving the two of you. It’s a little too much for his brain to handle right now.” Legend knew Twilight hadn’t said it to be mean but Warriors still averted his gaze. A potion wasn’t going to fix a concussion no matter how much you drank, they were going to need a fairy for that but he was sure the only one with fairies was Wild and he was part of the group that was nowhere to be seen. If this was like all the dungeons he’s gone through before it shouldn’t be long until they stumbled upon one though.

“It’s your first dungeon, might as well sit back and watch the pros get it done.” Legend cracked a crooked smile at the Captain who returned something of the like.

The puzzle wasn’t that difficult but no one mentioned that to save what was left of the Captain’s pride. Floor switches. Normally if he were on his own he would have needed to use the pots sitting in the corner to hold down the other four switches but it turns out they had the perfect amount of people. The door in front of them unlocked and swung open immediately. The next room wasn’t too difficult to deal with either. A winding bridge over a pit of lava? He’s done that a million times before.

The Beamos was a surprise but nothing his mirror shield could handle. He was even expecting the monster to appear once they were all on the other side. It was a Dodongo—not a black blooded monster—and Time and Twilight were able to make quick work of it. Time refused to let Legend, Hyrule, and Warriors do much because of their injuries.

Once they had the key in their possession they headed back to the first room where the locked door was.

“Man,” Warriors breathed as they unlocked the next room. “I can’t imagine how frustrating it would be to be stuck doing nothing but puzzles to find and beat your enemies.”

“Trust me, I’d rather do this than face down hordes of monsters non-stop in the middle of a war. You have my respect, Captain.” Twilight clapped him on the back and the next room opened up to them.

Shadow was ready to rip his hair out. He had no idea what to do to unlock the next room and the clue was no help whatsoever. There were about twenty or so boxes scattered about the room but he didn’t know what to do with them. There were no switches to place them on, no moving platforms, there was nothing!

Well, there were these weird designs on the floor—a bunch of dots connected by lines. There were three on top of one another each in its own color. One of the walls read: THE BEAST PROWLS THE NIGHT SKY DEVOURING ALL THAT IS WEAK BEFORE IT.

Vio would have known the answer. Hell, _all_ of Link would have probably been able to figure this out by now.

He slumped against a box to contemplate his life choices—I mean, to contemplate the answer to the riddle of course.

“They’re constellations,” Hyrule noted while looking at the drawings on the ground that stretched the whole length of the room. “The big one in red is the dragon.” It didn’t look like a dragon to Legend but he was never any good at picking out constellations. Whenever he and Marin had gone stargazing, he spent most of the time watching her watch the sky.

“The blue one is the bull and I think the green one is the twin fish constellation.”

“THE PREY SWIMS UPSTREAM TO AVOID BEING TRAMPLED OR EATEN.” Time read from the wall.

Twilight was already moving boxes around. “Meaning we probably need to make the constellation out of the boxes. Since the clue talks about swimming I think it’s safe to say we need to do the twin fish one.”

Warriors laughed. “None of this fazes you guys does it?”

It took Shadow way longer than he would admit to figure the puzzle out.

Well, no, he didn’t figure it out. He just started to put the boxes on the dots and hoped something would happen and it did. The next room was a lot more straight forward and made Shadow feel like less of an idiot than he already was feeling.

There were two statues in the middle of the room. The statue on the left was a knight holding a sword and shield. While the other was a scholar sitting in a chair with a book open on her knee but her left hand was raised in the air like she was supposed to hold something.

Words were carved into the stone floor at the scholar’s feet.

MY EYES CRAVE LIGHT TO SEE.

So he just needed to find a light source for her but the only light in the room was caused by glowing orbs that floated through the air. He didn’t think they’d be too much help.

He looked up at the statue again. Her arm really did look like it was meant to hold something. _Maybe a torch would be big enough to fit._ But there weren’t any torches around. The only torches he recalled seeing were all the way back at the beginning of the dungeon.

“You’re not seriously going to make me go all the way back are you?” He asked the statue. “I’m on a time crunch here!” The statue didn’t answer but Shadow still felt like its eyes were watching him as he sprinted back to the first room to find a torch.

When he returned—a bit winded—he placed the torch in the scholar’s hand. At first, nothing happened but before Shadow could get dejected a small hole in the ceiling opened up and something hit him in the head.

“Ow!” He rubbed at the spot on his head where the key had hit and went to go unlock the next room. “Just how many rooms are there?” He’s already been stuck in here for a few hours and each minute he wastes makes him so nervous because he had no idea if Melody was even okay or not.

“Alright, just gotta keep going onwards.” The next room is empty but as soon as he enters both doors slam shut and he hears the distinct sound of a lock latching. Logic told him that there should be a monster somewhere in here but nothing popped out at him.

Then he noticed the handful of Stalfos skulls littering the floor. Had Shadow been a Hylian instead of a shadow the Stalfos would have come to life immediately but they just weren’t reacting to his presence at all.

“Don’t go complaining in the afterlife about not getting a fair chance then,” Shadow said as he smashed each skull one by one with his foot until the doors unlocked again.

Legend stood before the two statues perplexed. There was only writing underneath the knight statue but he was having a hard time figuring out what they were supposed to do.

MY SWORD THIRSTS FOR BLOOD.

Hyrule was staring the statue down with an odd look on his face.

“Okay, possibly bad idea here but hear me out.”

Legend rolled his eyes. “Nothing good ever comes after the phrase ‘hear me out’.”

“Or ‘possibly bad idea’,” Twilight added.

Without offering up an explanation of his idea like they all thought he would, Hyrule pulled up his tunic and messed around with his bandages with a grimace. Before one of them could stop him he pulled away his hand and his fingertips were coated in blood.

“Good thing Sky wasn’t here to see that,” Hyrule said.

Twilight was the first to yell at him. “Bandages are there for a reason, Hyrule. We’re running low on potions as is.”

“I know, but I was already bleeding so there was no point in making another injury.” He rubbed his bloodied fingers over the stone blade and the key fell to the floor.

Legend scowled at the key. No dungeon he’s ever gone through has openly asked him to hurt himself to continue on. _But then again, no dungeon has been designed with safety on the mind either._ Did he ever make it through a dungeon uninjured?

Before they entered the next room Legend held out an arm to stop them. “I’d bet you five rupees that’s a kill everything in the room kind of room. It’s empty,” He explained when Warriors tried to question him. “I guarantee you that as soon as we step foot in there both the entrance and the exit will close and lock us in.” Time and Twilight nodded and drew their weapons.

“Any ideas of what we’ll be facing in there?” Twilight asked.

“Considering none of the monsters we’ve faced today have been native to Lorule…I’d say be prepared for anything.”

Something shiny caught his eye from within the knight’s helmet. It was the light from a fairy! Time and Hyrule coaxed it to come down. She kept on trying to heal the wound on Hyrule’s side but Hyrule wouldn’t let her.

“The Captain’s injury is more concerning right now. I can still fight with magic without moving around too much but we need another fighter since Legend wouldn’t even be able to hold his sword right now if it weren’t for his power bracelet.”

“Hey!” So what if he was right, he didn’t need to point it out. “I can fight just fine mid-range like you.” He pulled both his fire rod and ice rod out of his bag to prove his point. His sword wasn’t the only weapon in his arsenal.

“Alright then, I guess we’re ready.” The five heroes walked into the next room and sure enough, they were locked in within seconds.

At first, nothing appeared but the ground started to shake soon after. Two figures dropped down from the ceiling carrying no weapons but covered head to toe in bandages. Time took a visible step back.

“Gibdos!” Both Hyrule and Warriors shouted.

Twilight batted one of them away with a sword. “Keep out of their reach!”

“Stand back!” Legend yelled as he powered up his fire rod. If he burns away their bandages then most likely they’ll be dealing with a pair of Stalfos.

“Wait, stop!” Time’s shout came too late as Legend already released a massive burst of flames on the Gibdos. When the smoke cleared he realized why Time had tried to stop him. Instead of Stalfos stood pale, horrifying creatures. Their screams were something he could never describe even if he had a thousand years and every language in the world.

Legend dropped the fire and ice rods to cover his ears and back away. The only one who didn’t seem to be affected by the awful wailing was Time. He drew one of the figures away from the others and attacked it from behind. Even as Time managed to lop off a limb or two, the thing didn’t stop until he cut its head clean off. Only then did it fall to the ground in a heap.

Legend couldn’t move. He couldn’t think. The only thing he could feel was fear.

The other one hadn’t stopped in the meantime and was lumbering over to Twilight who, like him, had also dropped his sword and was holding his hands over his ears. He didn’t notice the thing was close until it was too late.

It jumped up and circled its legs tightly around Twilight’s chest and its arms around his head. It opened its mouth wide and was about to bite down on his head but never got the chance to as Time’s sword flew through the air, slicing the top of the thing’s head off.

The screaming finally stopped as the thing’s body fell limply to the floor. He hadn’t even realized the doors opened up until the older hero corralled them into it and away from the decapitated bodies. No one asked Time what the name of those monsters was. No one wanted to know.

Shadow examined the three levers in front of him. There was a platform high on the wall next to the door with a chest that probably held a key sitting in the middle of it. From the looks of things, the platform was able to move up and down the wall probably by pulling one of the levers.

“Okay, but which one?” He was afraid if he pulled the wrong one something bad would happen; but, then again, how much worse could it get? He pulled the middle lever and waited.

The platform didn’t start moving so he went to pull a different one when a big circular pipe appeared out of each wall.

“What the—?” Water started pouring out in massive quantities.

Shadow cursed as he slipped. Water was already rising past his ankles. “Wrong lever! Wrong lever! Wrong lever!” He didn’t have time to contemplate which one he should pull next—not when the water was getting close to waist-height and pulled the one on the right.

The platform still didn’t move but the water stopped pouring in at least. A few seconds later he heard a series of clanking noises and the water started to drain out of the room.

Now he was hesitant about pulling the third one. _All of them wouldn’t be traps, right?_

1he squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself as he pulled the left lever.

_Clank! Ka-chink! Click!_

A whirring noise filled the air and Shadow peeked an eye open to see the platform moving up and down along the wall. He sank to his knees in relief.

With all of the stress he’s been through today alone he was going to need therapy after this dungeon was done.

The next room was straight forward. It was filled with columns and Shadow understood why very quickly as a Beamos in the corner spotted him right away. If he was quick enough and timed it right he could potentially move through the room unseen. Unseen…

He hit himself in the forehead. “I’m such an idiot!” The past few rooms must have fried his brain enough to forget what he was. He melted into the shadows of the room from the flickering firelight and made it past the Beamos undetected.

There wasn’t a door at the end of the room but a wide and open hallway that lead him to the next section. After walking for a few minutes a room opened up to his left. The hallway still continued and there were no visible doors in the room so he didn’t feel like it was absolutely necessary to enter it. Besides the only thing in there was a bottle of red potion sitting on a pedestal.

“Ha! Yeah right. Nice try but I’m not falling for anymore of your traps lioness!” He yelled at the ceiling again and kept walking, leaving the bottle untouched. Maybe one day he would come to learn that not all dungeon rooms were full of traps.

Shadow was a little worried that he had come to a dead end since the last open space he came into had no doors but he didn’t have time to think about it because a Darknut dropped down from the ceiling brandishing a spiked ball and chain.

He smirked at the monster and cracked his knuckles. _Alright, finally something I can work with._

The Darknut approached him and he held up a hand to stop it.

“Who do you serve?” He asked. The Darknut stopped in its tracks, normally they didn’t speak but that was only to Hylians and others they thought to be their enemies.

“I serve only those fit to rule over the darkness.” Shadow cringed on the inside. When he was helping Vaati did he say things like that? If he did no wonder Link beat him up so badly.

He smirked at the Darknut and prepared himself to say something even cringier. “That’s perfect! I am the shadow of the hero. Where he stands in light I stand in darkness. There is no one more fit to rule over darkness than I.” To think he actually thought along those lines a few years ago was embarrassing. Even more so than saying it out loud again.

Fortunately for him, Darknuts weren’t too bright and it fell to one knee and bowed its head. “Master,” it called him.

“Take me to the exit.” Maybe this was the end of the dungeon altogether. The Darknut nodded and pushed a large urn out of the way and revealed a staircase going up. “Alright then, follow me.”

He might need assistance if he was going to be fighting off the lioness. They ascended the staircase.

The heroes on the other hand weren’t as fortunate. They stood locked in a room that was quickly filling with water. Legend had no idea what they did wrong. There was only one lever in the room and that should have triggered the platform to move down the wall so they could access the chest. But when Twilight pulled it the room started to flood.

“Push it back!” Warriors yelled to the rancher who was clearly doing everything in his power to do just that.

“What do you think I’m doing? Having a picnic?”

“Now is not the time!” Time was busy searching the walls to see if there was a loose part that could give way if they used a bomb on it.

Hyrule was clutching Legend’s tunic while the water levels got higher and higher. His face was pale and there was fear in his eyes. Legend didn’t blame him—in fact, he was shaking himself right along with Hyrule.

They almost drowned once today. He would never easily forget the way his lungs burned as his body screamed for oxygen only to be filled up with water instead. It had been one of the most painful experiences in his life.

The water was halfway up his chest now.

“Shit!” Twilight swore and gave up on the lever. “Hyrule get on my back and keep your head above the water.” Hyrule didn’t move until Twilight yelled his name again and he stiffly let go of Legend to climb on top of Twilight.

This is exactly what he’d been afraid of all those days ago when they first knocked on his door. They were going to die in an undiscovered dungeon far from anyone who could possibly help them.

And Melody. Melody was still in the hands of the shadow. If he died he had no idea what it would do with her. He squeezed his eyes shut as he now had to tread in the water.

_I’m so sorry, Marin. I not only failed you, but I also failed Melody. I’m so sorry._

Would she be there waiting for him on the other side? Could dreams pass on like Hylians?

The room was about half full of water by the time the old man gave up his search and resurfaced. He’d changed his form into a Zora again but Legend didn’t have the energy to ask him about it. Not like it would matter since they were going to be dead soon.

“I checked everywhere. All of the walls are solid. The other three looked down dejected.

“Now what do we do?” Warriors asked. “The room’s going to fill up in seconds and we’re going to run out of air.”

Twilight made a strangled noise. “I don’t think we can stop it.”

“Thank you for pointing out the obvious!”

Twilight was shaking his head. “No, that’s not what I meant.” They only had a few feet of air left. “I don’t think we _need_ to stop it.”

They all gave Twilight incredulous looks. Did he hit his head or something? They couldn’t exactly breathe underwater. “Hear me out. We can reach the chest now and get the key. Time can unlock the door and—” Time hadn’t given him the chance to finish before he swam his way over to the chest.

Legend’s head hit the ceiling as he watched Time dive to unlock the door. Except it wasn’t working. He filled his lungs with as much air he could before the water completely covered their heads. They all looked at each other in panic as Time yelled, “It’s not working!”

That was their last chance. They have no air left and in a few minutes, the air they do have will go sour in their lungs. Legend was already starting to feel the pain. In a last-ditch effort to do _something_ , he swam down to the bottom to where the lever was and pushed. Warriors joined him moments later.

The first few inches it moved Legend thought he was hallucinating until the lever gave completely and pushed back to the position they found it in. There were a few loud clunking noises before he felt the water start to drain out through the floor.

The force from the moving water kept him and the Captain from swimming upwards to where he was sure was air once again. He was starting to see stars again until he felt an arm circle around his waist and started to drag him and Warriors up.

He gasped for breath as soon as his head cleared the water. He was going to develop a phobia of swimming at this point.

Once the water drained all away they laid sprawled out on the floor just trying to catch their breath. Except for Time and Twilight that is. Time gripped the side of his face—right behind his ears—and pulled his face off? His body morphed back into a Hylian and Time was standing there as good as new holding the Zora's face.

_A mask. That somehow explains everything and at the same time nothing._

Legend groaned and stared up at the ceiling. Twilight’s blue outfit must give him the ability to breathe underwater. This was a rare time that he wished he had his mermaid suit in his bag.

“Everyone still alive?” Warriors asked weakly as Twilight pulled him up.

“If I say no will you stab me to check?” Legend sat up with effort. Hyrule laughed next to him.

If Legend was sure of anything it was that this dungeon was trying to kill them. Why else would it ask for blood or attempt to drown them?

They rested in that room until they all got their strength back. At least the only monster in the next room was a Beamos.

_Wow. I never thought I’d see the day where I would be relieved to come across a Beamos in a dungeon._

They trudged on down the hall hoping to come across an end to this hellhole soon. There was a bottle of red potion in a side room to the left that Legend was quick to throw at Hyrule. At least he had no aversion to taking the potion and downed it instantly.

The brown-haired hero sighed in relief as he pressed against his side.

The last section of the hallway brought them to a fairly large room with a staircase in the far corner. It was full of enemies.

 _Dead_ enemies.

They stepped over corpses of monsters none of them had names for. Empty suits of armor and large hairy beasts were scattered all over the floor.

Something snapped beneath Legend’s foot and he bent down to pick up a broken arrow.

“What is it?” Time asked him.

Legend examined the broken arrow. “Isn’t this one of Wild’s?” Twilight’s headshot up at the mention of the wild child hero.

Hyrule was kneeling next to one of the hairy monsters. There were footprints made of monster blood leading to the staircase. “Four was here,” Hyrule said as he walked over to the rest of them. “His feet are the smallest out of all of us.”

Time headed for the staircase. “The others are here then. The bodies are still warm so we shouldn’t be too far behind them.”

Today was the worst. Shadow didn’t care how many times he’s acknowledged that fact today but he was going to keep on acknowledging it until today becomes yesterday.

He held his right hand over a nasty gash on his upper left arm as he stared down his opponent. When he exited the staircase he hadn’t expected an ambush but a horde of monsters from his and Link’s time waited for him in a large room.

The Darknut took down a good many on its own before biting the dust leaving Shadow to deal with the remaining two Moblins, a Keaton, and a whole swarm of Keese. The only enemy left between him and the big ornate door that Shadow would bet his life that the lioness is behind is the Keaton.

It was fast on its feet and skilled with the blade. He didn’t get the chance to melt into its shadow. But maybe he didn’t need to. The other monsters may be dead but their corpses still cast shadows in the firelight.

Shadow let go of his physical form and hid himself in the shadows of the dead monsters until he was able to silently pop up behind the Keaton and stab it in the back. It was dead before it hit the ground and a chest appeared holding a more decorative key than all the others had been.

He wasted no time in unlocking and pushing the doors open.

One-by-one the torches lit themselves as he entered but with green fire as opposed to red. The torches cast the room in an eerie glow.

_Just as I thought._

The lioness sat in the middle of the room with her tail curled over her feet. If Shadow hadn’t had the displeasure of meeting her earlier he would have thought she was a statue.

“I’ve done what you asked, now give me the girl back!”

The lioness stood and stretched her back. “Did you? I asked you to show me your courage, little hero’s shadow. Have you done so?”

Shadow’s blood boiled. “Why does it matter so much to you anyway? I’m just trying to get that baby back to her dad and if I have to go through you to get her back then I will cut you down here and now!” He held his sword out in front of him.

The lioness bared her teeth in what he thought was a grin. She lowered herself into a crouch. “Do you really have the courage to stand your ground against me?” She pounced at him but he did not falter as he swung his sword with everything he had and sliced the lioness in two.

Or would have had the lioness not dissolved in a flash of green light.

Shadow took a step back and shielded his eyes from the light. When it died away the lioness was replaced by a beautiful woman. Her hair was the color of grass in the spring and her flowing dress shimmered in the firelight. He had a sick feeling in his stomach that he knew he knew who she was but still asked anyway.

“You have come a long way, Shadow of Link, the Hero of the Four Sword. I have watched your journey for a while now,” the green lady said. “I’m afraid I must apologize for my barbaric actions but I had to know if the same courage my former champion has flows through your veins.”

“And?”

She smiled at him warmly and he felt the sweat and grime he’s gained since leaving Dark Link’s dungeon wash away.

“You have proved your worth as a hero of your own today and I couldn’t be more pleased or prouder.” She spread her arms out. “I am called Farore, Goddess of Courage.”

Shadow knew he should fall to his knees or do something in reverence to her but he needed to get Melody back.

“Melody, the girl you kidnapped. Give her back. I wasn’t lying when I said I’m trying to reunite her with her dad.”

Farore said nothing but waved her hand and Melody appeared sleeping in her arms. Baby melody, not bunny Melody. She looked okay from where Shadow stood: clean with a new outfit. Her bow wasn’t new but there was a new addition. The Moon Pearl was fastened to the center of the bow.

The goddess looked at Melody fondly. “The Hero of Legend’s daughter was in no danger with me.” Sadness flickered in her eyes. “That child…he’s been through far too much already. Too much has been taken from him.”

He wanted to say that was true for all of the heroes. “So then why do you people keep dragging him into fixing your problems?”

“If it had been up to me he would have lived the rest of his life in ignorance on that island.” Shadow had no idea what she was talking about. His mirrors never showed him anything about an island. _Maybe she’s talking about the realm that was being watched over by the whale god?_

Farore sighed and brushed a lock of Melody’s hair off her forehead. “But alas I was outnumbered. ‘It would be wisest if he returned to Hyrule’. ‘It would be a waste of his power if he weren’t to return.’ My sisters told me over and over again but they did not see what I saw. I saw in him the courage to stay. So I delayed it for as long as I could so he would have at least had the chance to hold this sweet girl once.”

She gave Shadow a hard look and a crack appeared on the floor in between them. “I care deeply for each of my champions. Know how precious this child is to the Hero of Legend and therefore know how precious she is to me. I heard your prayer and your promise, Shadow of Link, and I intend to hold you to it.”

He nodded stiffly as she placed Melody back in his arms. A green portal appeared a few feet away from them and he knew it would lead them out of this place.

“Go forth, Hero’s Shadow. Your journey is far from over.” He bade the goddess and the dungeon farewell as he stepped on the portal and was transported back into the Dark World right where he started under the tree by the lake.

Legend and the others were greeted with the sight of pandemonium as they entered the second floor of the dungeon. Sky, Four, Wild, and Wind were battling more of the monsters they found in the room below.

“Glad you could finally join us!” Sky called from the other side of the room. He was facing one of the big brown furry things.

Legend blocked an attack from one of the armored creatures. “Sorry, we got a little held up. The hell are these things?”

Wind yelled above all the commotion. “Long story short: they’re Yooks and Phantoms. Swords work on Yooks and if you can get it to eat a bomb then that’s fantastic!” He wasn’t sure if the sailor was kidding or not. “Phantoms can only be killed by me so avoid them if you can! Also, we’re going to have a long talk about why all the monsters we’ve been facing since we picked Legend up have been from places that shouldn’t exist!”

Legend froze which was a horrible thing to do in a battle and got hit pretty hard in the stomach by a Yook’s club.

“Legend!” Someone yelled.

“I’m fine!” He made quick work of the Yook that hit him and moved on to another one. There weren’t many monsters left in the room but there were twice as many bodies lying on the floor. Just how long had these guys been in battle?

The battle raged on for a while until Wind destroyed the last Phantom with his sword. Legend and the others all sat amongst the dead monsters completely exhausted. Time and Twilight were explaining their side of the story.

Four’s face was a little pale. “We saw you guys go under but the ground opened up and swallowed us. We ended up in the room below here surrounded by those monsters.”

When Time got to the room with the Gibdos Wind sat up straighter. “There were _Redeads_ in here?” Time nodded.

By the end of their tale, someone noticed the chest in the corner that hadn’t been there before.

“Boss room key?” Legend asked Four who was the one to open it.

“Boss room key,” he affirmed.

The heroes gathered together and prepared themselves by switching out weapons or taking potions.

Four inserted the key and they all watched it disappear as the large doors swung inward. They were faced with an empty room with a reflective circular floor. Even as they all entered nothing appeared. The doors didn’t even slam shut almost as if whatever-it-was was giving them the opportunity to run while they still could. Clearly, it knew nothing of what it was going to go up against. Nine heroes of courage. They didn’t run from a fight.

Slow clapping echoed off the walls and that’s when the doors slammed shut behind them. A deep female voice came from above. “Well done. Well done.”

A dark figure descended from the ceiling like a spider. There was a way too familiar blob of blackness that stood before them before morphing into the form of a woman.

Legend took a step back right into someone.

 _That’s not possible. That is_ not _possible!_

“I expected it would take you much longer to reach me but I must say I am pleasantly surprised.” She was a Shadow Nightmare there was no questioning it.

_How…how?_

Time was the one to step forward. “Who are you and why have you brought us to this place?”

The Shadow Nightmare thought on his words for a second before smiling grotesquely and pointing her finger in Legend’s direction.

“That right there. I was too impatient but I wanted nothing more than to see that look of despair on your face, _Messenger of Awakening_.” She laughed something horrible and Legend actually wanted to run. Not from the fight but her words. “Now you’ll never know the truth. Are you dreaming? Are you awake? Are you alive? Or have you finally descended into Hell for your crimes I wonder?”

“What the hell are you on, lady?” Wild asked with his bow drawn. He was using a glowing blue arrow that Legend had never seen before.

The Shadow Nightmare laughed again. “Oh? Do they not know?”

“Shut up!” Legend ground out between clenched teeth.

If it was possible she smiled even bigger and clapped her hands twice. “Do they not know the weight of your sins?” Another Shadow Nightmare appeared carrying a small white bundle and Legend’s heart gave out.

His Pegasus boots felt like they were made of iron.

“Melody!” His voice was strangled. He gripped his sword tighter. He was going to get her back. He made it half a step before two strong arms circled around him stopping him from rushing forward. “Let me go!” He struggled against Twilight’s grip but the older boy wrestled him and had to pin him to the ground. “Twilight, you bastard! _Let me go_!”

“It’s an illusion, Legend! It’s not her!”

“You don’t know shit. Give her back you Nightmare!” The Shadow Nightmare started to laugh even more.

Twilight put a lot of his weight on Legend’s right shoulder making him cry out.

“That’s not Melody! That’s not your daughter, Vet!” Legend stopped fighting back. “It’s just an illusion.” He had no problems processing his words. Twilight knew…How did twilight know? How did—

The only person he told was Talon but Talon wasn’t the only person with him that night. Legend swallowed heavily. The wolf pelt cloak. The facial markings. The blood on the corner of his mouth back when they fought the Bokoblins in his Hyrule. The reason why Twilight started to avoid him after that night.

The wolf and Twilight were somehow the same.

_It’s an illusion._

Legend needed to calm down. If he had been in his right mind he would have seen that too. Twilight let go of him to let him stand. Worry later. Focus now.

The Shadow Nightmare whined and the second one disappeared with a wave of her hand.

“That’s not fair. Don’t you know what fun is?” She started to change form again until her black silhouette was in the shape of a small being with an oddly shaped head. She vanished and reappeared leaning on Twilight’s shoulder. “If you want we can tear apart your trauma. Oh, what delectable secrets you have up here.” She touched the side of his head.

Twilight didn’t hesitate in swinging his sword behind him—nearly cutting Wind in the process. He managed to nick the Shadow Nightmare on the side but she was too busy laughing to notice.

“How messed up have you become that you can raise your blade against me in this form?”

Twilight’s eye twitched. “She would be disappointed in me if I didn’t.”

While she wasn’t paying attention a bolt of lightning shot past, missing her by only centimeters.

“Damn,” Hyrule swore.

She was about to set her sights on Hyrule but Legend shot her with a blast from his ice rod.

She looked at Legend with mild interest. “Are you fighting back now?” Her formed changed again but instead of getting choked up, his anger increased tenfold. Since she was a silhouette of darkness he couldn’t see the color of her hair but he didn’t need to see the color. He knew the person she was imitating inside and out. “I’m curious. Would _you_ raise a hand against your lady love?”

The Shadow Nightmare screamed in pain as two arrows sprouted out of her shoulder.

“He doesn’t need to,” Sky said, his eyes perfectly expressing the rage he felt.

She stomped her foot like a child. “This isn’t right! This isn’t how you’re supposed to react! You—!” Another voice floated through the room cutting her off.

_“If it had been up to me he would have lived the rest of his life in ignorance on that island.”_

Below them, an image rippled and came into view. A woman in green was standing opposite of them while holding…

“Melody?”

“Vet—” Twilight started. But Legend held up his shaking hand. There was something off and yet familiar about the image. It was a room similar to this one and yet…

Something shimmered in Melody’s bow. A pearl. A _Moon_ Pearl. Perfectly identical to the one he always carries in his bag. There was no reason she would need one unless…

“They’re in the Dark World!” Forgetting about the Shadow Nightmare for a moment Legend slammed his sword into the ground but only succeeded in cracking it. Twilight pulled him back up.

“Get off me! We have to get out of here! She’s so close! She’s _so close_!”

“Oh, dear. Is this divine intervention? Tsk. We can’t be having that.” The Shadow Nightmare waved her hand and a portal appeared beneath all of their feet. _No. No. No. No._ “We’ll meet again, heroes.”

“You bi—!” Wind didn’t get to finish because they were swallowed up by the portal and spit out in an entirely new time.

“No!” Legend pounded his fist against the dirt ground. “Please, let me go back! Hylia, _please_! I have never asked for anything from you in my life just please give me this one thing _let me go back_! Melody!” His tears soaked the dark earth beneath him but no portal appeared to take them to his daughter.


	8. Secrets Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Legend's secret is out. Tensions rise between the heroes as they find themselves in Wild's Hyrule.

Legend screamed at the setting sun until his throat became hoarse. He cursed the goddess in every language he knew, and when he finally ran out of words to say he leaned back on his knees with his head tilted all the way back just staring at the handful of stars that have appeared. The adrenaline was gone from his system completely. He had no strength to stand and he didn’t have the mental strength to face his companions after his secret was blown.

He would have stayed there staring at the darkening heavens if Twilight hadn’t helped him stand. “It’s not safe here,” he muttered to Legend. “We need to keep moving.”

Nodding absentmindedly he followed along with his head bowed. There was no point in looking around he knew he wouldn’t recognize anything. The Nightmare wouldn’t have sent them back to his Hyrule where he could easily find a gateway to the Dark World.

They traveled for a few hours mostly in silence. Legend had no idea if they were doing it out of respect for him or if they were furious that he kept such a big secret from them. With his luck, it would probably be the latter.

After another half an hour the sounds of civilization reached his ears. He chanced a glance up at his surroundings and was met with one of the oddest shaped buildings he’s ever seen. It was a big patchwork tent with a wooden sculpture of a horse as opposed to a roof—at least, Legend thought it was supposed to be a horse. There were stalls attached full of horses meaning this was a stable.

_But what’s with the tent?_

Wild ushered them inside quickly while looking at the sky with a worried expression. Wind looked like he was about to ask what was wrong but never got the chance as the sky turned red. Panic set his already frayed nerves on high alert when moments later a large red moon centered itself on the sky. In the distance, Legend could hear the roaring of a few monsters.

“It’s a blood moon,” Wild said as he pushed them the rest of the way in. “They revive dead monsters thanks to the leftover residue of Ganon’s power.” He handed the man behind the desk a handful of rupees and showed them to their clump of beds.

“Zelda and I had hoped they’d stop after I defeated the Calamity but they still come—less frequently but still…” He shook his head. “We’ll be fine here. Monsters don’t tend to wander this close to the stables.

Legend sat down on the edge of a bed away from the others as they got settled in for the night. They were injured and exhausted from changing worlds technically three times in the span of a day. All Legend wanted to do was curl up and ignore the world around him. There was no hope of sleeping tonight. Not after seeing Melody. He stared down at his empty hands with blurry eyes.

_She was right there. So close I could have reached my hand out to grab her._

Any hope of getting rest was thwarted by Warriors opening his big mouth.

“Are we done being sensitive now? Because I want some answers.”

He knew what Warriors was referring to but he couldn’t lift his head to acknowledge he heard him.

Twilight practically growled at the Captain in warning. It was funny. How had he not figured it out sooner? Legend prided himself on being able to solve puzzles quickly and yet he missed something as big as Twilight and Wolfie?

“Let’s not start a fight,” Sky said, probably standing in between the two. “Although I wouldn’t have put it quite that way, I have to admit Warriors is right. Whatever that thing was knew Legend. It got inside our heads somehow and started to dredge up some pretty bad memories.”

“Yeah, so mind telling us what the hell that thing was? And the fact that you have a daughter now that you’ve never mentioned before?” Legend winced at the volume of the Captain’s voice and lowered his head even further. His tongue felt as heavy as lead, even if he wanted to tell them the truth about Melody he couldn’t get the words out.

Someone stepped in front of him and by the sound of the escalating argument, it was Twilight.

“Haven’t we gone over this before? We all have our secrets. If Legend doesn’t want to talk then he doesn’t have to talk.”

“That’s big coming from the guy who blurted his secret out for the whole world to hear,” it was Hyrule who spoke. He didn’t sound angry but the Traveler was always good about masking his emotions in his voice.

Warriors scoffed. “It’s one thing to keep secret all the morally questionable decisions we’ve had to make on our journeys but something like this? Something that pertains to our current mission? He should have been straight with us from the beginning!”

“What difference would it have made?” The room quieted at the sound of his voice. He lifted his head and tried to glare at the armor-clad individual but he wasn’t too hopeful that it was any intimidating. “Even if I told you we would still be here and Melody would be there.”

There was tension in the room so thick Legend wasn’t sure if his sword would cut through it. Everyone was either avoiding eye contact or watching Legend, Twilight, and Warriors closely with their hands close to their weapons. Time’s face was full of conflict but he made no move to stop them.

Oddly enough it was the youngest of them who broke through the silence.

“So…she’s really your…You’re really a dad?” Legend gave Wind a small nod. The young hero had wide eyes but his eyebrows were scrunched together and he was thinking so hard Legend could practically see the steam pouring out of his ears. “But…but you’re so young!”

They all looked at Wind with the same amount of confusion because it didn’t sound like he was joking. Wild hid a laugh behind a cough. While Warriors turned his attention back to Wind. There was still irritation in the soldier’s eyes so Legend braced himself for what came out of his mouth.

“I thought you were a sailor? Sometimes things happen. Life throws obstacles at you. Sometimes mistakes are made—” Legend had no idea where the extra strength came from but the next thing he knew he had Twilight’s sword pressed against Warriors’ throat.

From behind the counter, the stable manager was yelling at them to not spill any blood in his stable and if they wanted to kill each other do it outside.

Both Wild and Four had their own blades drawn and ready to step in if it came to it. Warriors was looking at him fully now. The irritation was still there but he could see a flicker of fear flash in his eyes. A part of Legend wished he had grabbed the Master Sword off Sky’s back instead. Maybe the sword burning his hand would snap him out of this.

He poured all of his anger into his eyes. Anger at the Captain. Anger at the shadow for stealing Melody. Anger at himself for failing both her and Marin. There was enough venom in his voice to kill Ganon himself. “Melody was _not_ a mistake! If you _ever_ —!”

Sky and Twilight forced him to back off by wrapping their arms around him. Sky gripped his wrist holding the sword tightly until his fingers unclenched against his will and the sword clattered to the ground.

“I think he was just speaking generally. _Right_ , Captain?” Sky’s voice was calm but there was a hardness in it.

Warriors cleared his throat awkwardly and wiped at the spot of blood where the sword had been. At least he had the decency to look a little ashamed of what he said. The others sheathed their swords but kept their hands on the hilts just in case.

Legend shook himself out of Twilight’s grasp. “Melody…she’s the reason I changed my mind. Why I came along. The shadow took her from her crib and my only goal is to get her back.” He stared at the lamps hanging from the top of the tent in an attempt to keep his voice stable. “She’s all I have left.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hyrule nudge Warriors probably prompting him to apologize but Legend didn’t want his apologies. In a way he was right. Legend knew he shouldn’t have kept this from them but a part of him had hoped that they would have found Melody already and he never would have found himself in a position where he needed to tell them about her.

And now not only did he have to tell them about Melody but about the Nightmares as well. He thought he dealt with them already when he woke the Windfish. If that was just one of many and if they’ve allied themselves with the shadow…Legend shuddered at the thought. It took him months to clear all of the Nightmares from Koholint. How long would it take if they were spread across time? Months? Years? Melody couldn’t wait that long.

Wind made another noise of confusion and scratched his head. He looked like he just missed the past few minutes of conversation. “I’m sorry. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you’re a dad. Why did you get married so young?” Legend blinked and forgot his irritation with Warriors to focus solely on the youngest hero.

_What?_

The tension lessened significantly and Legend had to wonder if the kid was joking just to distract them but the sincerity in his question made him falter.

“We—we weren’t married.” That only managed to confuse Wind even more.

“Wind…” Time started slowly while looking at the sailor in bewilderment. “You _do_ know where babies come from…right?”

“And how they're made?” Wild added with a badly concealed smile. His shoulders were shaking as he laughed silently behind his hand.

A bright pink blush plastered itself on Wind’s cheeks. “Of course I do! I’m not a kid! My grandma explained everything to me when I was 12. It was mortifying! That’s not something you can just forget! And don’t even get me started on the lectures Linebeck has given Tetra and me!” Wind put his cherry-red face in his hands and groaned. “But what I don’t get is my grandma, Linebeck, even Tetra’s crew all said that stuff only happens when two people get married.”

Despite the situation, Legend felt a bubble of laughter threatening to surface and he had to bite his cheek to keep his face expressionless.

“He, uh, grew up on a secluded island for the first twelve years of his life,” Twilight told him. “And has been at sea almost consistently ever since.”

“I see.”

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, come on! You have to know why they told you that. Right?” Wild wasn’t hiding his laughter anymore.

“Why?”

“Tetra has been their captain since she was young. It’s a tiny ship. For their sanity, I’m sure they don’t want either of you discovering your hormones until you’re like, 30.” Even Warriors cracked a smile.

Warriors’ words sunk in fast and if it was possible Wind’s face grew a deeper shade of red. “Tetra and I aren’t—it’s not like—shut up!” Wind hid his head underneath a pillow while some of his companions laughed heartily.

The stable manager had to tell them to quiet down.

“It’s nice to know piracy hasn’t destroyed all of your innocence.” Time lifted the pillow to ruffle the boy’s hair. On a more serious note, now that most of the tension has dissipated, he added, “Legend, why don’t you tell us what happened?”

Legend averted his gaze and looked out the entrance. This is what he’d been afraid of since the moment he joined them. To explain about Melody he would have to tell them about Marin and Koholint. To explain about the Wizzrobes they fought the other day he would have to tell them about Koholint. To explain about the Nightmares he would have to tell them about the Windfish and Koholint. There was no escaping it. No back door. No way out. He could only delay it for as long as he could.

The sky had long since gone back to normal but was still dark. “In the morning. When it's light out.” It wasn’t a conversation for the dark.

He had hoped that by morning they would have forgotten what they asked him to explain but was he ever that lucky?

It was midmorning and they were all huddled around the cooking pot while Wild made them breakfast. The morning air was brisk but that made sense since he could see a snow-covered mountain close by. Wild called it Hebra Mountain. He said that the Rito lived in a village in the middle of a lake at the foot of the mountain. Legend had no idea what a Rito was but by the way Wind perked up at the mention of them he assumed they weren’t enemies. But that also didn’t mean much because apparently for some of these guys the Zora are peaceful people and didn’t spit fireballs at them every five seconds.

He thought he was in the clear when Time nonchalantly mentioned how bright the sun was that morning while taking a sip of water from his waterskin. The others looked at him expectantly and Legend silently cursed the older hero.

His throat felt tight but he couldn’t come up with a reasonable excuse to get out of talking. He hugged his knees to his chest as he watched the fire flicker underneath the cooking pot.

“That thing we encountered in the dungeon was a Nightmare. A Shadow Nightmare to be more specific. And they might be the reason we keep encountering monsters from places that shouldn’t—that shouldn’t exist. Last year I—” he cleared his throat but it didn’t help much. “My boat got caught up in a storm and I got shipwrecked and washed ashore on an island.”

For a moment he could see Marin’s red hair in the flames and it made it that much harder to continue. “I thought it was a normal island at first. There were dungeons there too, ones that I’m used to. You solve some puzzles. Defeat a few enemies and then a big boss at the end. An owl told me that if I completed all of the dungeons, found all the instruments, and woke the Windfish that I would get to go home. That I would be saving the island from the monsters.”

Legend jumped up from his seat and started pacing. If he didn’t keep moving he was going to lose it.

“What a lie that was! Sure there are no monsters there now. It’s hard to have monsters on an island that doesn’t exist!” He needed to stop talking. The pain in his heart was getting to be too much to bear but now that he started he couldn’t stop.

“I only finished a few dungeons by the time I first learned Ma—she was pregnant with Melody.” Legend came to a halt and watched the tiny birds peck at the ground looking for worms. “I was going to stop. Someone else could have woken the Windfish or it could have stayed asleep for the rest of eternity for all I cared. And I did stop. For months I only used my sword to protect the villagers from the monster on the island and then Melody was born…”

Tears pricked at his eyes. “She was so small. So small and helpless. I was done being a hero the second I laid my eyes on her.” He clenched his jaw and balled his fists up so tightly they started to shake. “If it weren’t for that owl. If that damned bird hadn’t shown me the way to the face shrine I never would have learned the truth!”

The words from the mural burned in his mind, mocking him over and over again.

_CASTAWAY, YOU SHOULD KNOW THE TRUTH!_

“It was a dream. The whole thing. The island was an illusion all along and I destroyed it with my own hands!” He couldn’t stop the tears from falling from his eyes as he bared his sins to the others. “What kind of hero destroys the very thing they’re meant to protect?”

Two small arms wrapped around his waist from behind. He tried to shake Wind off but he held on tight.

“It was never real—”

It _was_ real!” Wind cried into his back. “It was real, Legend! If Melody is real then that means the island was real!”

Now he really tried to pry his arms off but Wind wouldn’t relent.

“No! _It was real_! They said we were only gone for ten minutes but I know they’re wrong! My sword is proof! _Linebeck_ is proof!”

Legend froze stiff as a board. What was Wind saying? That he experienced the same thing Legend had? He twisted his upper body around to stare at the shorter hero in horror. To be so young and to have to go through something like that. At least Legend had been 18.

He felt Wind’s tears soak the back of his tunic.

“So don’t say it wasn’t real. Melody’s mother—the girl with the hibiscus flower in her hair—she was real too. And if she were here I don’t think she would want you blaming yourself for something you couldn’t control.”

No. Wind didn’t understand. Similar situation or not. Legend had had a choice and he had made it.

“I could have. I could have left the Windfish asleep!”

“No. No, you couldn’t have.” Legend’s head shot up and made eye contact with Time. There was sadness in his eye as he touched the tattoo on the right side of his face. “Fate. Is a funny thing. You can’t run from it or hide from it. No matter where you are be it at the top of the tallest mountain or at the bottom of the sea, it will find you and hold you to its judgment.”

Legend fell to his knees with a pained grunt taking Wind down with him. The last time he saw Marin played in his mind over and over and over again. The urgency at which he held her and kissed her. The way they both knew deep down it had really been a goodbye no matter how blind Legend had been. He played Marin’s song at the top of the mountain and faced down the Nightmare living inside the egg.

He did have a choice. He was too much of a coward to make it.

If he had died…

He had told Tarin once that he was prepared to die for both Marin and Melody but when it came down to it…he couldn’t. In response, Tarin had told him that it would be better for him to live for them. Well, he tried that, and look where it’s gotten him.

Pain shot through his forehead and Legend reeled back with wide eyes. Hyrule was crouched down in front of him with his fingers in just the right position to tell him he flicked his forehead. He looked up at him incredulously…again.

Hyrule sighed and gave him a small smile. “You know, our shoulders were only designed to carry the weight of our heads. Why do you keep on insisting on piling all of this extra weight on yours?”

Legend was at a loss for words when Hyrule threw his arms around his shoulders. His brain was having a hard time processing his situation. Why did he now have two people hugging him that he couldn’t get off?

“At the very least you don’t have to carry it alone anymore. We’re your friends, Legend. And friends’ shoulders _are_ meant to carry the burdens of their friends.” It was such a ridiculous statement that he couldn’t help but give a short, watery laugh. He also couldn’t help but lift his arms and return Hyrule’s hug.

When did he stop being alone? After his uncle died and after he found out the truth about his relation with Zelda he had no one he could rely on but himself. If people had found out he was the princess’ brother they would have been after his head even more so than when they were deceived by Agahnim. So he traveled to Labrynna and Holodrum and by extension Subrosia. And then trouble befell Hyrule again and he met Ravio. Was that when it started? Because only two years later he woke up on the shores of Koholint Island.

_And now I’m traveling with eight other versions of myself. Link, you haven’t been alone for a long time._

It was crazy. They were only temporary traveling companions. Why was he starting to feel so attached to them when he knew once all this was over they would never meet again until after death. Was this how Marin felt? This fear and anxiety about a parting he wasn’t sure when or if it would happen?

It took longer than he would have liked to compose himself again. And when he did Hyrule and Wind backed off to give him some space. He rubbed a hand tiredly over his eyes. “Sorry,” he grumbled. “Got a bit off-topic. You wanted to know about the Nightmares.”

Legend took a deep breath and recounted his encounters with each Nightmare at the end of each dungeon and paused when he got to the Shadow Nightmare in the Windfish’s egg.

“It was like the being we came across. One of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to face. It looked in my head and took the forms of enemies I’ve defeated there on Koholint and in my original journey. Including that pig-faced monstrosity, Ganon. Huh,” Legend huffed. “I guess that means I’ve technically faced Ganon four times, not three.”

Some of the others shuddered at the thought.

“It was the Windfish’s dream but it was tailored so perfectly to fit me I’m sure they knew exactly who they would ensnare one day. The monsters in the dungeons and around the island were ones I knew and had fought before. Some of them were a bit different.”

“The Wizzrobes from the forest,” Twilight guessed. “You were acting a little weird when Wild’s sword did nothing.” He nodded and explained to them that he once encountered the same Wizzrobes in Hyrule and swords worked just fine, it was when he was faced with them in dungeons on Koholint that he realized they were different.

“The point is, we have no idea how many Nightmares are working with the shadow but they’ve all had a good look in our heads to pick out which monsters would shake us the most. I doubt they’ll continue using that tactic now that the Shadow Nightmare revealed itself to us but be on your guard.”

His companions nodded and Sky put his hand on his shoulder. “Thank you for telling us, Legend. I know it wasn’t easy for you. I’m sorry we pushed so hard.”

Legend shrugged. If the situation had been reversed he would have been the one to push so it wasn’t like he could blame them at all. Still…

“Next time you guys want to have a feelings powwow count me the hell out.” His statement brought another round of laughter and Legend felt his own mouth lift up in a smile.

“Hey, Vet?” Warriors called his attention.

 _Now, what does he want?_ He frowned at the Captain. “What?”

“About your daughter…” Legend stiffened. “We’ll get her back, Legend. You can count on us.” The others voiced their agreements in near unison. _Oh._ It was like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders that he didn’t know was there. He collapsed forward with his head in his hands.

“Thank you…I—thank you.”

“Come on now, I thought you were done being all touchy-feely?” Legend laughed as he readjusted his hat.

Wild finally passed out breakfast, it was the best food Legend had eaten in a long time—or maybe it was because it’s been a long while since Legend’s been able to eat. Wind plopped down on the ground next to him and started talking to him and eating at the same time.

He told him about his second adventure and about this ghost ship he and Tetra were chasing down. “And then Tetra got turned into stone.” His voice was a little melancholy when he got to that point. Four—who had looked a little dazed since they got to Wild’s Hyrule shook his head.

“What?”

Time placed the back of his hand on the smithy’s forehead. “You feeling alright? You’ve been a little quiet today.”

Four waved Time’s hand off. “Yeah. It’s just…” It was probably the sun’s light reflecting off his eyes that made them appear a little purple. “Not to bring the subject up again, I was just thinking of the dungeon.”

“Don’t worry so much about it,” Wild said. “We all made it through with minimal physical damage. Emotional damage on the other hand…” Legend made eye contact with the scarred hero and rolled his eyes. One mental breakdown did not mean he was suffering from emotional damage.

Twilight hit Wild upside the head. “Minimal? Hyrule almost lost half of his internal organs—sorry Sky.” Sky looked a little green in the face and dumped the rest of his uneaten breakfast on Warrior’s plate.

“Seriously, what’s eating you, Four?” Hyrule asked while he made sure to show the others that his wound had closed up nicely but left behind a nasty bite-mark scar.

Four shook his head and gave possibly the fakest smile Legend has ever seen. “I was just thinking of the lady on the other side of the mirror floor. Who was that, by the way? She looked too ethereal to be Hylian.”

Legend shrugged. “A goddess probably. If I had to bet on it, it was most likely Farore. The others would never be apologetic about using me for target practice. Farore is the only one who actually cares for us. The others couldn’t care less if we lived or died.”

Sky opened his mouth to defend Hylia he was sure but Warriors threw a hand over his mouth and addressed Four. “Are you sure that’s all?”

“Yeah. I was just curious.” That was a lie but Legend didn’t push it. They didn’t need any more spilled secrets today.

They stayed at the stable for a few more hours but it seemed everyone else shared his eagerness to be back on the road. Before they could leave someone called out to Wild—well, they called for a Link but since this was Wild’s Hyrule it was a safe bet they meant Wild.

Wild greeted the man and tried to explain that he was about to leave.

“I’ve never seen you traveling with anyone. Good on you for finding some friends!” The man laughed and clapped Wild on the back. “Anyway, I just wanted to thank you again for getting that picture for me. I knew the Leviathans went extinct due to a violent volcanic eruption, the other two are just too blind to see the facts.” He wished Wild good luck on his journey and they set off. Legend hung around the back with Wild just so he could ask about what the guy had been talking about.

“Leviathans? There were three massive skeletons I found on my adventure. One in the Hebra region, one in the Gerudo Desert, and one behind Death Mountain. Zelda says they’re whales but I’ve never seen a whale before—or at least I don’t remember seeing one—so I don’t know.” Legend’s pulse quickened.

“This might be a weird question but the skeletons, did any of them have wings?” The Windfish wasn’t a god. Gods wouldn’t be affected by something as inconsequential as a Nightmare let alone be trapped in a deep sleep by one.

Wild thought about it for a while and then pulled out his Sheikah Slate and started to look through his pictures. He must have found the one he was looking for because he passed the slate to Legend.

“I found that one in the Gerudo Desert.” And sure enough, there was an image of a skeleton of a whale with a wing bone sticking out on top.

“That’s him,” Legend said in a small voice. “The Windfish is dead.” He handed Wild the slate back and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Are you okay?”

Was he? At first, he thought he’d be overjoyed to see the Windfish dead but now…It wasn’t like he was sad or anything. Just…like he’s left something unfulfilled. “Yeah, if we have time one of these days I’d like to go see it. There are some things I think I may have left unsaid.”

Wild cracked a smile. “With how much you’ve yelled at the goddess I can’t see how that’s possible.”

Legend squinted at the sky. “That’s just Hylia. At this point, she doesn’t deserve my forgiveness.” They kept walking for a few more hours, dealing with stray monsters along the way. Only a few were infected so that was a bit of luck for them.

They were headed for Wild’s Kakariko Village where his Zelda was currently staying until they could rebuild Castle Town. It was more than a day’s walk from the stable so they found a well defendable, mostly stable structure within some ruins.

Wild’s Hyrule was unnervingly empty and there was such an eerie stillness to this big open world. Legend keeps expecting to run across towns or settlements but the only signs of life they find are monsters and wildlife.

No wonder they called him the Hero of the Wild.

Legend lucked out and drew first watch that night and refused to let Hyrule talk him out of it.

“I know for a fact you didn’t sleep last night!”

“It’s the luck of the draw, ‘Rule. You see, this wise old man once told me that fate is a funny thing.”

Time chuckled softly on the other side of what was once a building. The others somehow managed to get Hyrule to back off only if whoever had second watch made sure Legend actually slept.

Maybe his luck was turning around because the person who had drawn second watch was Wild who Legend knew also had an aversion to sleeping.

Nothing interesting happened during his watch which was a good thing. Even though he couldn’t sleep, he was too tired to actually do any more fighting today. Wild had actually taken the chance at sleeping but from where Legend sat perched on a crumbling wall it didn’t look too peaceful.

He was tossing and turning in his sleep and every once in a while would let out a whimper. Twilight must have just as good hearing while he was Hylian as he did when he was a wolf because at the first sign of Wild’s discomfort Twilight shot up and hurried over to him.

Twilight glanced up at Legend briefly before touching his necklace and turning into a wolf. It was a quick and seamless transformation that had Legend wondering just how many times he’s done it. He curled up beside Wild and let him hold on while he slept. Wild seemed to calm down after that and snuggled up closer to Twilight.

Twilight didn’t fall back asleep. Legend figured he didn’t want to risk waking up as a wolf and having the others question where Twilight had gone. Instead, he kept a watchful eye on Legend as if he expected him to run off on his own.

“Relax, you mother Cucco. I’m not going anywhere.” Twilight snorted in response. It seemed he wasn’t able to talk at all in that form. That was odd because when he’d been turned into a rabbit in the Dark World he’d been able to speak just fine.

By the time second watch rolled around Legend had no plan on getting down and waking Wild up but Twilight didn’t like that idea because he shifted back and nudged Wild awake.

Wild took one look up at Legend and promised he’d get him to relinquish his watch if Twilight went back to sleep. “All three of us can’t be sleep deprived tomorrow.” They then argued at a volume too low for Legend’s ears to pick up but when Twilight huffed and returned to his bedroll he assumed Wild won.

Moments later Wild climbed up and sat next to Legend on the wall.

“I’m not going to sleep,” he told Wild.

“I know, but I could use the company.” His eyes were tired and older than the boy sitting next to him. “I haven’t told you much about my adventure yet, have I?”

Legend put his hands up. “Look, just because I broke down and told you guys about Koholint doesn’t mean you need to do the same.”

Wild just laughed and shook his head. “No, it’s not like I haven’t told everyone else. I had to, the first time everyone came here. I mean, look at this place.” He gestured to the ruins around them. “All of Hyrule is like this. The few villages left are small in comparison to the towns you guys are used to.”

The more Wild talked the more he wanted him to shut up. It wasn’t because he was annoyed but he was beginning to piece together his story with the bits he already knew about the hero and his world. His amnesia and scars. The way he sometimes talks about things in the past tense. Wild’s story wasn’t one of success.

But he was relatively light-hearted about some parts like if he didn’t make jokes about it he would lose himself in the grief. Maybe that was a coping mechanism Legend should try out.

“Ask me how old I am.” It seemed like a trap but Legend asked anyway. “117.”

Legend wished he was more surprised than he was but that wasn’t the craziest thing he’s ever heard.

“Sometimes it’s weird thinking about it. My life began over a hundred years ago—granted I don’t remember much of it. At least Zelda understands this, probably more than I do because her memory is still intact.”

They fell into silence after that for a long while until Wild sat up straighter.

“Hey, Legend?” Legend hummed in response. Wild was fiddling with a strand of his hair. “Earlier you were talking about the goddesses like you’ve met them.”

At first, he had no idea what Wild was talking about but then remembered Four’s weird conversation about Farore. “I haven’t, but I’ve handled the Triforce so many times that I’ve gotten a feel for them.” He took a deep breath and prepared to go into textbook mode. “Din is the goddess of power. It’s unclear whether or not she chooses Ganon to be her champion to go against the princess and the hero but she has offered me her help in the past. And the other two—”

Wild waved his hand and cut him off. “What about Hylia? I mean. We all can tell you have no love for her—which I get by the way. And I know what you’re going to say: if I want to know more about Hylia to go ask Sky since his Zelda is Hylia reborn as a mortal and that’s why the royal family has been blessed with her power. But Sky was the first hero. The hero before me lived 10,000 years before I was born. There’s no telling how much time exists between Sky and me.”

Legend blinked. Sky’s Zelda was Hylia reborn as a mortal? _That’s_ why Zelda has her powers? _Wait…hold on._ If Sky was the first hero and he and Zelda founded the Kingdom of Hyrule and started the royal bloodline…did that make him Sky’s descendent? He shook his head. _Nope! No, too complicated. Not going to think about it._

“What did you want to know?”

Wild looked out at the ruins of Hyrule castle. “The Calamity came while we were unprepared. Zelda couldn’t unlock her powers in time. More and more I’m starting to remember countless times I’ve guarded her while she begged and pleaded and prayed to Hylia with no response and yet all I have to do is walk up to the stupid statue and she’s like: ‘how can I help you, Link?’ I just…I don’t get why she would do that.”

“Are you sure it was Hylia?” Wild looked over at him in confusion. “If you say she didn’t speak to your Zelda but did to you, even if Zelda couldn’t access her divine powers she was still the destined princess.”

“What are you saying?”

The sun was starting to come up above the horizon. It was amazing how quickly the night flies by when he had someone to talk to.

“What if the reason you could hear her and she couldn’t was because you’re hearing Farore, not Hylia. It’s been a long time and maybe she’s forgotten about the statues. The golden goddesses were always more involved with the happenings on a mortal level so maybe after a while, they took over watching the statues. Zelda’s patron would be the goddess Nayru. Her silence could have been a lesson to prepare the princess, to make her more determined. Nayru’s love can be quite harsh at times.”

Instead of looking encouraged like he’d hoped Wild just looked downtrodden. “I see,” he replied in an uncharacteristically small voice. “Then maybe Hylia has abandoned us completely.”

Legend had no argument for that. Not that he wanted to defend that goddess to begin with. So he shrugged. “Eh, who needs goddesses? We end up doing all their dirty work no matter what so it’s better to not worry about if they actually care about us or not.”

Some of the early risers were starting to wake up—unfortunately, Hyrule was one of them, and once he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and saw Legend was in the same spot he was when his watch started he got up and stormed over with a lecture on his tongue.

“I guess you’re right,” Wild said. “Now, shall we face our impending doom like men?” He gave him a beaming grin and hopped down from the wall and was Hyrule’s first victim. Before Legend came down he looked up at the sky once more.

_Listen, Hylia. I get why you have it out for me but the others don’t deserve that kind of treatment. Do whatever you want to me but ease up on them okay? The life of a hero isn’t a fun one._


	9. Phase Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadow and Melody wind up in Twilight's era. It's a shame the people of Castle Town had gotten so used to dark magic, thanks to the events of Twilight Princess, that they're able to sense it.

Shadow ran through the streets of an unfamiliar town desperately clutching Melody closer to his chest while looking over his shoulder every few steps. They were still following him! It was the townsfolk. They’d spat in his face the second he entered the town and called him a demon. Then they accused him of stealing Melody and started chasing him with swords and torches and brooms—anything they could use as a weapon.

Why was this his life? Why did this always happen to him?

First, the portal he created to leave the Dark World didn’t spit them out on ground level. No. If he hadn’t reacted quick enough and grabbed ahold of the ledge he and Melody both would have splashed down in a large pool of water that hadn’t looked too shallow. He just about died from the effort of pulling himself up with one arm—since the other was holding Melody—and nearly died again when this ginormous glowing snake appeared out of the pool.

“You bring darkness to my spring, little one.” The snake had a deep voice but Shadow was unable to discern a gender from it. What he _was_ able to discern from it was the power and threat behind it.

Shadow wasn’t typically one to cower but if he sunk lower to the ground he would never admit to it.

The light that came from the snake’s mouth glowed even brighter so much that it was starting to cause Shadow real physical pain. It was the kind of divine power that could potentially flatten a creature of darkness such as himself and for the first time in a long time, he truly felt terrified for his life. He shielded Melody’s eyes as best he could.

“Wait!” He shouted desperately and the light subsided temporarily. “I’m not here to do any harm, I swear!”

The snake made a growling noise and drew its head closer to them. “Oh?” It tilted its head. “What other reason does a shadow have to trespass on these sacred grounds? You hold a dark power. I can smell its festering stench on you.”

Shadow looked down at the still warm and purple-tinted black triangle hanging around his neck. “O-oh, this? This isn’t mine! I stole it off another shadow, you might have heard of him, he goes by Dark Link these days.” The snake snarled which made Shadow jump and start talking even faster.

“I mean, I know that makes me sound like a thief but this guy is seriously whacked. And he’s been using portals like this to make a mess through time and he’s got this whole plan involving these monsters and the heroes. I used to work for him, but not really! I was just trying to escape. I don’t know if you’ve heard of me. I’m the Shadow of the Hero Link. The Four Sword Hero? Hero of Men? Hero of Minish?” The snake stayed still while he rambled so he took it as his cue to ramble some more.

“Link’s a pretty cool guy and we’re friends…sort of. I mean I did try to kill him but he forgave me for it! And I sort of died to save his life so I guess that makes us even…What I’m trying to say is I’m good now and please don’t eat me!”

The snake moved close enough to see its teeth. Shadow held his breath as it sniffed his head. It drew back with a growl.

“You carry the blessing of Farore…why?”

Shadow’s heart was beating a mile a minute and he forced himself to breathe as he uncovered Melody’s face. Surprisingly enough the baby was unfazed by the whole thing and reached her hand out towards the snake with a giggle.

“This is the child of the Hero of Legend. I’m just trying to get her back to her dad.” He wouldn’t have called it a blessing from Farore more like a threat that if he failed he would be incinerated on the spot.

The snake—the more Shadow looked at it looked more like a dragon than a snake—snorted. “Hero of Legend…I have no recollection of such a hero and yet I can sense no lie coming from you. Link the Hero of Twilight departed from this Era and my eyes are unable to reach the places he has ventured to. I know nothing of this…Dark Link you speak of.”

Shadow stood on unsteady legs. Did this mean he was safe? Was the snake-dragon-thing not going to blast him into oblivion?

He cleared his throat. “Well…he doesn’t exactly do most of the dirty work himself.” Shadow proceeded to tell the ethereal being everything he knows from his time as Dark Link’s captive. By the end of his tale he was mostly certain he wasn’t going to get killed by this thing.

The snake-dragon hummed and nodded its head. “I see. If what you say is true then Hyrule is in grave danger. It would be wisest for the Hero of Twilight to return to us immediately.”

_Wait. What?_

The Hero of Twilight can’t return yet. None of the heroes can go back to their original times until they beat Dark Link into the ground.

“But that’s not—”

A golden light surrounded Shadow and Melody. It stung but he could sense no ill intent within it.

“Go now, Shadow of Link. Seek out the Queen of Hyrule. The powers bestowed upon her by the goddess Hylia should be sufficient enough to locate the Hero of Twilight.”

“Wait!” Shadow shouted but it was too late. The glow became brighter and he felt himself become displaced. When the light dissipated Shadow was at the front gate of a bustling town.

Patches of his skin were red and he felt like he’d just been roasted slowly over a fire. “Ow…” He whined as each step sent a jolt of pain through his body. “Stupid goddesses. And their stupid light magic.”

Thankfully Melody was unharmed. Must be nice being a Hylian.

The light must have also fried the part of his brain responsible for making good judgment calls because he walked straight into the town without hiding his presence. At first glance he looked Hylian—he tried hard to match his appearance with Link’s initially to get Vio to trust him but after a while, he just felt more comfortable like this. Before his whole mess with Vaati, he had the same appearance as all other shadows did with gray skin, black hair, and red eyes. Like Dark Link.

Boy was he glad now that he dropped that look. Even though he could never get his hair to lighten up to match the blond for long periods of time, it just settled at a shade of purple that he didn’t mind.

The point is, he may appear visually as Hylian but he still had an aura of darkness around him that if someone was perceptive enough they would be able to sense it.

Which brings him to his current situation running for his life from the bloodthirsty townsfolk. Perceptive enough. He hadn’t even made it 10 feet past the front gates!

Meanwhile, Melody was giggling nonstop as if this were all just a big game.

“Kid! You’re way too young to be laughing in the face of danger!”

A middle-aged man wielding a butcher’s knife shouted at him from the front of the decent-sized mob that had accumulated behind him. “Unhand that child you demon! While you can still escape with your life!”

“And risk getting vaporized or my face burned off by the Hero of Legend? No thank you!” Shadow yelled over his shoulder and took a sharp right turn down an alleyway. A few stray cats scattered at his approach and he had to hurdle a turned-over barrel.

He came out in what was the center square. The castle wasn’t too far away if he just kept going—

“Stop him!”

He turned to see that in the past few seconds the mob had grown three sizes. “Oh shit.” He started sprinting in the general direction of the castle without looking and ran straight into something solid and metallic.

“Oof!” He grunted as he fell backward to the ground and rubbed his forehead where he’d smacked it on whatever that was. The unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn froze him. Shadow gulped and slowly tilted his head up to be greeted with half a dozen swords pointed at his throat.

Knights from the castle had him surrounded while the townsfolk formed a ring around them calling for his blood.

“What’s going on here?” A woman’s authoritative voice called out from behind the knights.

Shadow knew he shouldn’t have but he gritted his teeth and focused all of his power in his glare. It was enough to get some of the knights to lower their swords but the biggest one in front nicked the underside of his jaw when he used his blade to lift his head up.

“We caught this one making a ruckus in the market,” the big knight sneered. The townsfolk chimed in with their wildly outlandish and completely false claims.

“He’s a demon! A baby-snatcher!”

“I saw him, he threatened to destroy the orphanage!”

“He killed the mother and took the child from her still warm arms!”

Shadow would have rolled his eyes if the Knights hadn’t parted to let the woman through. His mouth dried up at the sight of her. If there was ever a definition of regal she would be it. She walked with prose and purpose. And she was beautiful. The kind of beauty that kept people captivated until they realized her true beauty lied in her skill with the sword strapped to her hip.

It was unadorned. A weapon meant for combat, not decoration.

With a raise of her hand, even the big knight backed off enough to let her approach him.

“A demon…I’ve faced down many demons over the years and yet…” She studied his face but he had the feeling she was looking for something past his physical appearance. After a few tense moments, she turned to head back into the castle. “Let him through. I wish to speak with him.”

Cries of outrage came from the angry mob.

“But, Your Majesty, the child—” the big knight started but stood down immediately by the hard look the woman gave him. Was she the queen the snake-dragon told him to find?

“Sir Vernon, were your ears perhaps damaged during your morning drills today?”

The big knight’s face turned bright red. “N-no, Your Majesty. My concern was only for the child.”

The Queen turned around to look at Shadow once more.

“You’ll have to pry her out of my dead hands,” he growled and held Melody closer. He had hoped she was smart enough to not take the panicked cries from the townsfolk as truth.

Another knight prodded him with his sword. “Speak to the Queen like that again and that can be arranged.”

Shadow never saw it coming but by the time it took him to blink the queen had her own sword drawn and had it pointed at the other knight. “I don’t appreciate having to repeat myself. The next person who questions my authority will be stripped of their rank and thrown from the castle. Do I make myself clear?”

The knights were quick to compose themselves as they dropped to their knees with their heads bowed.

The queen nodded her head slightly and started for the castle again. Shadow scrambled to his feet to follow her. He ignored the burning glares he received from each knight and townsperson he passed.

Melody was starting to whine and squirm. It was getting close to time for him to feed her. Either that or she needed a nap. Or she needed changing. Shadow had no idea what she needed, to be honest. All of her cries sounded the same to him.

The queen led him into an office and ordered the guards to keep the door closed. She didn’t sit behind the desk but instead stood at the large window.

“I hope you realize what I have done for you. If it turns out my people are correct you will be dead before your body hits the ground. Understood?”

Melody started to yell at him so he ignored the fact that he was in the presence of royalty and sat down in the middle of the office to let Melody out of the sling. She didn’t need changing but it didn’t seem like she’d wanted him to put her down either. He dug through his bag for a bottle of milk while he addressed the queen.

“In a way they were right. I am sort of a demon but it’s more complicated than that.”

“Then un-complicate it.”

He explained his story for the second time that day while he fed Melody still sitting on the floor. When he got around to the part about the other heroes she spun around with a look of surprise.

“You know where Link has gone?”

He nodded. “Well, it’s more like _when_ is he,” and filled her in. She sighed heavily when he finished.

“You met with the spirit Lanayru. They grossly overestimate my power. I don’t have the ability to bring Link back nor do I have the ability to see what time the heroes reside in currently.” Shadow’s heart sank. He never planned on actually convincing the queen to bring the Hero of Twilight back here but if she really did have that sort of power then maybe she would have been help in figuring out how to make the portal maker bend to his will.

It was back to square one for him and he still had almost a full 24 hours before he could make another portal.

“And what of the child? She is not yours.”

He lifted Melody onto his shoulder to burp her but he was never any good at it. He felt awful patting her back like he was going to hurt her. “No, she’s the daughter of one of the other heroes. Dink—I mean, Dark Link kidnapped her just to get him to go through the portal.”

The queen came closer to him. “May I?” It took him a minute to register what she was asking with her hands extended. He was afraid to give her Melody even though he would still be there but he remembered what happened down in the town and slowly passed the child to the queen.

Melody didn’t fuss or anything, she snuggled up against the queen’s shoulder and let her burp her contentedly. It let Shadow relax slightly because if there was anything he knew it was that Melody was a good judge of character.

“If you’re going to be too gentle then there’s no point in attempting to do it.” She managed to get Melody to burp faster than he ever could and repositioned her to cradle her in her arms. Melody was fascinated by the queen’s jewelry and started babbling at her.

There was a softer look in the queen’s eyes as she looked at Melody. It was gone again moments later when he stood to receive her back but there was no mistaking that it had been there. “My own is a little older than this one. The hero you speak of must be worried sick. Tell me more about this Dark Link. I want to be well prepared to greet him.”

No wonder her people respected her so much. When Shadow looked at her he saw the eyes of a mother grizzly ready to defend against anyone who would try to harm her family or her kingdom. She was a protector through and through.

The queen walked back to her desk to look for paper.

“As a hero’s shadow, what do I call you?”

“Just Shadow is fine. And you?”

Just as she opened her mouth to respond a knight burst her way through the door.

“Queen Zelda!” Well, that made sense. “I bring you urgent news! Reports of beasts we have no records of have appeared in Hyrule field.”

His heart skipped a beat and he stepped in before the queen could. “What did they look like? What kind of numbers are we looking at?”

The knight paused and looked to her queen who told her to answer his questions. The way the knight described them Shadow knew exactly what she was talking about.

“Moblins,” Shadow pinched the bridge of his nose. That didn’t take long. “From the eras of the Heroes of Time, Wind, Wild, and the Chosen Hero.” Dark Link found him. He gathered up his bag and made for the door. If he left now he would have enough time to draw them away from this place. But how long could he keep them away?

He looked down at the pendant around his neck. They still had over 22 hours before another portal could be made.

“Where are you going?”

“This is my fault. Unless they approach the castle tell your soldiers to stay back.” The queen looked ready to argue but Shadow cut her off. “I’m not going to have a bunch of people die senselessly for my freedom. I’m going to draw them away from here.”

“Not with the baby. You’ll only be putting her in harm’s way.”

Shadow shook his head and placed her back in the sling. “Melody is not to leave my side until she is safely back in her father’s arms. I made a deal with a goddess and I don’t intend to break it.”

The queen sent the knight away with her orders to have their people stand down and under no circumstances are they to engage. “At least take someone with you.”

“They’ll only slow us down.” Before he left he turned around one last time. “I apologize for bringing you trouble.”

Her grip on the hilt of her sword tightened. “Can you promise me you can lead them away from my people?” No, but it was worth a shot anyway. He had a feeling he didn’t need to say anything because his thoughts were probably written on his face if the dark look in the queen’s eyes was anything to go by.

He turned to leave when she called out one last time to him. “You never did ask why I allowed you passage into the castle.”

“I just assumed you were just that benevolent,” he said lightly. In truth, he had no idea why she did that without much question.

“I had a friend like you once. There was a darkness in her similar to your own. But there was also goodness and love in her heart that made no room for evil. May the goddesses watch over you, Shadow.”

His throat was a little tight and made his response choppy. “You too, your highness.” He sprinted out of the castle.

He saw them even before he left Castle Town. There were maybe thirty of them all together all of varying colors. All of them infected. Dark Link’s dark magic poured out of them like a leaking faucet. It made his skin crawl.

At the front of the pack stood a large dark figure with the head of a bulldog. Shadow had no name for it but he knew it wasn’t a shadow like himself.

With all of the composer, he could muster he approached the figure. It had its sword sticking out of the ground in front of him with his hands resting on the hilt.

“Well, if it isn’t the little traitor. To think you’d come and face me like a man. I didn’t know a coward like you would have what it takes.” The bulldog-faced silhouette laughed and the pack of Moblins joined in with their awful harmony.

“I’m surprised it took him this long to find me in the first place. How long did it take for you all to realize I gave you the slip?” He needed to keep him talking for a little while longer. If he wasn’t careful the silhouette might send his Moblins to destroy the town and the soldiers here weren’t equipped enough to deal with a threat of this caliber.

“You act as if the master doesn’t know your whereabouts at all times.”

Shadow snorted. So this guy was a fanatic. Master? Seriously? How big of an ego did Dark Link have?

“You act as if Dink is some kind of all-seeing god.”

The silhouette laughed darkly again. “Why be a god when you could have the power to destroy one?”

 _What?_ Shadow took a step back. “What are you talking about?” Dark Link’s plan was to destroy the heroes. He _never_ mentioned anything about killing a god. Dark Link didn’t even _have_ that power to begin with. He didn’t even have the power to destroy all of the heroes at once!

But the silhouette didn’t answer right away it only smiled grotesquely. The shock of blinding white teeth against the darkness nearly blinded him and sent chills down his spine.

“There were things the master never let you be privy to. A plan so great it will shake the balance of the heavens! As we speak, phase two is already being set in motion. The heroes won’t know what hit them.” That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. How did he miss something this big? He had ears everywhere in Dark Link’s dungeon.

 _Or maybe my ears were Dink’s all along._ He thought bitterly to himself. He scanned the horizon until his eyes landed on the lake. Shadow looked back at the silhouette and went to take a step toward the direction of the lake.

“I wouldn’t run if I were you.” It pointed its dark finger towards Castle Town. The queen’s soldiers were lining the perimeter ready to defend if it came down to it. “If you run we might have no choice but to search every inch of Hyrule for your sorry hide. Starting with that town.”

His pulse quickened but he masked his panic and shrugged. He pointed to the scabbed-over cut on his jaw. The dried blood he’d felt drip down his neck probably made the wound look worse than it actually was. “Why would I care about a group of Hylians that called for my head? This isn’t my Hyrule anyway.”

The silhouette growled like that wasn’t the response it was expecting. “Whatever. I have my orders to bring you back dead or alive and I intend to follow through. Get him!” All thirty of the different Moblins roared and charged after him. They had his scent they would probably be able to chase him even if he melted into the shadows.

 _Perfect._ He grinned as he covered Melody with his magic and slipped them both into the shadows. It was cruel of him to do this to her, it wouldn’t hurt just scare her. But they could travel faster this way.

They set off on the race of a lifetime.

_22 hours. 18 minutes. 39 seconds._

Unfortunately for Shadow and all of the heroes, the silhouette had been right. Phase two was underway and the heroes were about to be caught unawares.

Legend spent the afternoon traveling by Hyrule’s side. After the day he had yesterday, he was starting to feel more comfortable with everyone. He finally figured out what was so familiar about Hyrule that had been bugging him for days.

Hyrule was the hero after him. Their histories matched the best and Hyrule had told him some stories he’d heard about the hero before him and, while exaggerated over the years, they matched up to some of his adventures.

Looking at the kid hiking next to him he was silently glad Hyrule had only been on two adventures as opposed to the many he’s been on. A part of him was irked that he had to go on any at all. Was defeating Ganon three times not enough? Why did the pig have to keep coming back anyway? Maybe he should add Din to the list of goddesses undeserving of his forgiveness.

Wild brightened up considerably and shouted to the rest of the group that they were almost to Kakariko Village.

“Wait until you meet my Zelda,” Wild told him and the others agreed. Legend winced inwardly at the way Wild’s face lit up when he talked about the princess. If Marin had been alive during all this would his face have looked like that if he talked about her?

Wild continued on unaware of Legend’s inner turmoil. “She’s smarter than all of us combined. You should see this new project she’s been working on. It’s—” he never got the chance to finish his sentence because the ground shook fiercely and the air rippled around them.

A portal stood in their path between them and Kakariko Village. Like the image of a sad puppy, Wild’s ears drooped as he sighed. They wouldn’t be making it to Kakariko Village today.

Twilight ruffled Wild’s hair and threw his arm around his shoulders. “C’mon, Cub,” he said gently. “Time to go to work.” Wild nodded dejectedly as they both stepped through the portal.

Traveling by portal was weird because it was nothing like warping. One minute they would be walking in one time period and it was like the environment around them was the thing being warped.

On the other side of the portal was a forest not unlike the one they’d just been walking through but the sounds of life and people told them they weren’t in Wild’s Hyrule any longer. No one claimed it immediately when Four asked but then Sky raised a tentative hand.

“Mine…I think.”

“You think?” Warriors raised an eyebrow at him. Sky was turning around with a confused expression.

“Something’s—something’s not right.” Before anyone could question the first hero a massive explosion went off not far from where they were—taking out a good portion of the hillside.

Everyone was on their feet and in a defensive position with their swords drawn but no enemies made themselves known. Off in the distance, a tall, muscular man with a jumpsuit and a hardhat came running over to them blowing on a whistle until his face turned bright red.

Sky nearly dropped the Master Sword and made a strangled kind of noise in the back of his throat.

The man approached them and started to yell at them waving his hands around. “The hell’re doin’ here? Don’t you idiots know how dangerous it is to be this close to a blast site?”

They all looked to Sky to answer. “Groose?” He asked incredulously.

“Who the hell is Groose? You have the utmost privilege of talkin’ to the one and only Bado!” Groose—or not-Groose—gave them a cheeky smirk while pointing to himself before glaring at them again.

Sky looked so lost that Legend was starting to question if this really was his era. “Um…okay? What’s going on here? Where’s Zelda?”

The Bado guy scoffed and started poking Sky in the chest. “Zelda? I don’t know a Zelda and I don’t know a you either so get on out of my mining camp before I make you leave.”

Sky stood unresponsive. The Bado guy looked like he was about to start throwing some punches so Hyrule jumped in between the two and gave him a bright smile while Time and Twilight pulled at Sky to get him to start moving towards the exit.

“We’re sorry sir.” Bado looked like he was about to start preening when Hyrule called him ‘sir’. The kid was good at this. No wonder Wind had wanted him to be the one to approach Legend first when they almost broke his door down. “We just got a little lost, is all. We’ll get out of your hair now.” Bado nodded and stood and watched as they left the mining camp probably making sure they didn’t try and come back.

They made it to the edge of a small clearing about half a mile away from the camp before Sky started to lose it.

“Sky—” Time started.

“What is going on?” Sky was pulling on his hair with both hands. He was in full panic mode pacing back and forth.

“Sky you need to calm down.”

“Mining camp? What is _Groose_ doing running a _mining_ _camp_? And what was all that about not knowing Zelda?”

Legend had no idea what was going on but there was something off about the air here. While he contemplated it Sky started running towards a statue on the other side of the clearing. It had to have been bad if Sky was running.

“What are you doing?” Four yelled as Wind and Warriors ran after him. The others followed more hesitantly.

Sky was shaking by the time he got to the statue and Legend didn’t think it was due to lack of breath. “I need to go to Skyloft and get some answers.”

Warriors dragged him away from the statue. “No, we’re not separating at a time like this.”

“I’ll be quick.”

“Sky—”

“Get down!” A voice to their right yelled almost a second too late as a volley of fire arrows and flaming boulders started to rain from the sky. Legend barely had enough time to raise his shield as the arrows started to fall. And the boulders…they huddled up against the side of the small cliff behind the statue. When things quieted down they were all relatively okay but the statue had been smashed to smithereens.

The voice that called out to them emerged from the woods. His yellow tunic was singed on one of his sleeves. He patted his arm while grumbling. “Those damn rocks.”

Sky’s eyes widened in relief. “Pipit?”

The man in the yellow tunic stopped short of them by a few feet and looked at Sky like he’d grown a second head. “You must have me confused with someone else. My name’s Kiko. The clearing should be safe to pass now. They usually take a long time in between volleys.”

Sky stepped out in front of the others. “Who, Pi—Kiko? Who’s attacking us?”

Kiko’s eyed Sky suspiciously. “Have you been living under a rock the past five years? We’re at war with the Gorons! Look, I need to get back to my post,” He addressed Time. “Maybe take your friend to a healer. He might have hit his head during the attack.”

“War with the Gorons?” Sky put his head in his hands and sat down on the ground unceremoniously.

Legend looked down at his hands. There was something off about Sky’s world that made his stomach churn. He reached above him to grab a leaf from a nearby tree and crushed it between his fingers. It was a feeling that was so close to being perfect that he hadn’t noticed it wasn’t until he stepped ashore in the port town in Hyrule.

“It’s not real.”

Eight heads swiveled to his direction.

Wind and Hyrule shared a look that made Legend frown.

“Legend,” Four started with caution. “I get that you’ve got Death Mountain’s worth of emotional trauma but right now we really need you to focus.”

He rolled his eyes and knelt down to run his fingers through the grass. The texture was wrong. The color was wrong. Everything was wrong with it. He looked up at the others. “I _am_ focused and I’m telling you this isn’t real.”

Sky’s voice was quiet and hollow like even he didn’t believe what he was saying. “Are you saying I don’t know my own home? This is the Surface I have never been more sure of anything.”

Legend tried to convince the others but everyone was either looking at him sadly or avoiding eye contact with him altogether. Annoyance running through his veins he stood up and addressed the sailor.

“Wind, how long was your second adventure?” Wind jumped and tilted his head at the odd question.

“A week, maybe two. Why?”

He turned to Time and the look on his face kept him from asking the same question.

Legend looked down at the crushed leaf in his hand.

“I lived on Koholint for a year. I drank the water and ate the food. I lived with those people interacted with them daily. The wind was never right and the heat from the sun was always consistent. Hell, Melody was probably conceived on grass as fake as this. This. Isn’t. Real.”

It was slow but he could see it in their eyes as they started to come to believe him. They’ve been here before. He remembered Hyrule had said they fought Moblins from Wild’s Hyrule here. So they should know what it should be like.

Wind looked like he was going to be sick. “Oh, goddesses.”

Legend swallowed hard and looked up at the perfectly blue sky. “This is a dream.”

He knew one thing for certain. There was no giant egg, no Windfish to go wake up. How the hell were they supposed to get out of this?


	10. Sky Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heroes are trapped in a Nightmare meant for Sky. How will they get out of this one?

It was official. Legend was going to kill Hylia. Who cares if she was a goddess he was going to find a way.

Wasn’t it enough he went through this once already? Wasn’t it enough that everything had been taken from him? Had the all-powerful beings running the show expected him to be a celibate and obedient dog at their constant beck and call?

After Legend’s reveal, Time had Sky lead them to a safe place for them to stay while they figured things out. As they were walking Legend slunk back to the end of the pack. He wasn’t dragging his feet, he just had an overwhelming need to keep track of all of the heroes.

This was all the work of a Nightmare then, but how much of it? He was afraid to touch any of them because they might start to feel the same way the island had. Of course, he knew that was ridiculous because Marin and the others felt normal to him but that could have just been his mind denying what had been right in front of him.

How much of this was a dream? Were the heroes he’s finally opened up to and grown fond of just figments of his imagination? The monsters with the black blood? The shadow and the portals?

Was Melody?

A cold chill came over him and he hugged his arms around himself.

_“Are you dreaming? Are you awake? Are you alive? Or have you finally descended into Hell for your crimes I wonder?”_

Did he even wake up from the Windfish’s dream in the first place? Was this all just another phase to the Shadow Nightmare’s fight within the Windfish’s egg? Was his body still asleep drifting in the ocean amidst the wreckage of his ship?

_“Are you dreaming?”_

He shook his head but the thoughts wouldn’t leave him. The others were right, he needed to focus. Legend felt himself slip his hand into the pouch he had tied to his belt on his hip and brought Melody’s toy wooden bird out. He held it tight and brought his fist up to his mouth.

_Melody is real. She is real and I’m going to get out of this and rescue her. She’s real._

Hyrule slowed down to match his pace but didn’t say anything. Legend wasn’t really up for conversation anyway but his presence eased his mind a bit.

Sky, on the other hand, lead the group a few paces ahead of everyone else with one fist wrapped tightly around the sailcloth he had on his back. He hadn’t taken the news to well that they were trapped in a dream but he wasn’t the only one who didn’t fully believe Legend.

He knew Wild and Twilight were trying to make it not obvious that they were watching him out of concern but he could tell. Ever since the incident back in Lorule, Twilight had been doing that constantly to the point where Legend was ready to kick him in the jaw. It was like they were all a little afraid he was going to breakdown and lose it.

But he was _fine_. Or he would be if he could find a way to ignore the absolute fakeness of everything around him.

_“Are you dreaming?”_

He held Melody’s toy tighter.

The group of heroes traveled in silence until they reached a decent sized lake to take a rest. It wasn’t level with the surface instead it was sunken in surrounded by waterfalls. Wind approached one of the waterfalls and was about to refill his waterskin when someone screeched at him to stop. The poor kid jumped so hard his waterskin went flying out of his hands and if it weren’t for the Captain’s quick reflexes it would have gone down into the lake.

A girl with red hair came rushing over frantically. She pulled Wind back away from the waterfall looking frazzled. They all ignored Sky murmuring “Karane,” which may have been her name in the real world but this was a dream after all.

 _“A dream. Nothing but a dream. Even the heroes right in front of you.”_ Legend winced. He was not so sleep-deprived that he was hearing voices but the chilling whispers brushed against his mind no matter how hard he tried to stay focused.

_“Are you dreaming? Are you awake?”_

“What are you doing?” She fussed over Wind making sure he hadn’t gotten any water on him. “You know that water isn’t safe to drink. Those nasty Gorons poisoned it ages ago.” Wind made a choking noise and they all took a generous step away from the lake.

It was an odd concept. Hylians being at war with Gorons, and they all took the news about as well as Sky had. But it was a dream and dreams rarely made sense. The problem was trying to figure out _why_ the war was going on. Legend was starting to wonder if they get more information on that it’ll lead them eventually to a way out. However, it wasn’t like they could just walk up to someone and ask when it seemed like common knowledge around here.

Again it was Hyrule who came up to lie to the young lady to keep up with the appearance that they were from here as well. Nothing and no one could be trusted.

“We know, miss—”

“The name’s Grida,” she said.

Hyrule nodded and continued on with his lie. “We had no intention of drinking it. We just needed a sample of the water to bring back to our friend. She’s a scientist and wanted to look into a way of getting rid of the poison so she sent us since it would be dangerous for her to go alone.” Legend was slightly concerned that his successor could lie so easily.

_“Do you doubt yourself so much that you created an image of a successor to take up your mantle after you inevitably fail?”_

He had no idea if it was his own intrusive thoughts but with how much he really _has_ doubted himself recently it made the most sense and scolded himself internally and went back to ignoring that part of his mind.

Grida looked over the tree line to where Death Mountain stood tall and menacing with a look of disgust. Legend saw Wind counting something down on his fingers and brightened up with a smirk that quickly transformed into something innocent.

Wind nudged Four and whispered something in his ear that Four didn’t take kindly too if his glare was anything to go by but Wind stuck out his bottom lip in a pout until Four acquiesced. Four sighed quietly and squeezed his eyes shut, when he opened them again Legend noticed the red tint was back.

As much as his curiosity burned to know the reason, it was probably within the realm of big secrets and he had no plan on digging out anyone else’s secrets.

Four relaxed his face to mimic Wind’s look of innocence. “It’s so sad that we’ve been at war for so long.” Everyone looked at Four like he’d grown a second head and, frankly, so did Legend.

The girl blinked and looked at Four’s fake innocence with a look of pity. That’s when it clicked in Legend’s mind. Wind’s smirk and the doe-eyed impression of children. He had to give Wind some credit for thinking fast on his feet. He’d seen the way she practically mothered him and was going to exploit it to get some answers.

Asking outright about the war wasn’t going to work but if they can coerce someone into talking about it freely…

The girl placed her hand gently on top of Four’s head. From underneath her hand, Legend saw Four’s eyes flicker to blue for a moment before settling back to red.

Wind made his eyes as round and sad as he could make them. “I was only nine when it happened.”

The girl bought it so hard Legend had to bite his lip to keep his face straight.

“Oh, you poor things, to have to go through this at such a young age.” There were tears in her eyes. “You two must have been so scared when the Gorons made Skyloft fall to the surface.” Many of the heroes flinched and turned to Sky. Four jerked away from Grida but that could have been interpreted as reliving a bad memory.

And Sky…Sky looked five seconds away from hyperventilating. Skyloft falling to the surface. From what Sky has told him of his home, Legend couldn’t imagine how hearing this was affecting him. Well no. He didn’t have to imagine how Sky felt.

_“Or have you finally descended into Hell for your crimes I wonder?”_

_Shut up._

Time stepped in and placed his hand on Wind’s shoulders.

“Yes, well, thank you for the warning but we really should get going.”

Grida wiped her face clean and gave them a huge smile. “Of course, of course! Stay safe out there, you never know what those Gorons are planning.”

“We’ll do that.”

They started to walk around the perimeter of the lake until the girl had left the area completely. Once she was gone Sky threw his bag on the ground and folded his sailcloth up to store it away. He then proceeded to start removing his boots.

“What are you doing?” Four asked—his eyes back to their normal brown.

“I’m jumping in,” Sky said as he took a few steps backward to get a running start. It took Legend a few seconds to process what he was planning on doing but Warriors and Twilight both grabbed one of his arms and held him back.

Warriors started to go off on him. “Like hell you are. Did you not hear that lady? Are you immune to poison and have just failed to tell us?”

Sky tried to fight his way out of their grasp but since it was two of their strongest members Legend didn’t foresee that happening any time soon. He ended up stomping on Twilight’s foot but instead of being able to break free all he managed to do was trip him up and now all three of them were on a pile on the ground. The ranch hand lived up to his name because in a move Legend never saw coming he had Sky on his stomach and was holding him down like he had done to Legend in Lorule.

Sky still fought, no matter how fruitless it was. “Look, if anyone would know what was going on and how to fix the poisoned lake it’d be Faron!” His eyes were a little glazed over which made Legend concerned that being here in this Nightmare was affecting Sky more than they thought.

Twilight’s eyebrows scrunched together. “As in the spirit?”

“As in the dragon.”

“Sky…” Legend sighed. Fixing a poisoned lake that wasn’t real to begin with was the least of their concerns. Why couldn’t Sky see that? The Chosen Hero was struggling to get out from underneath Twilight even more frantically now and his eyes were filled with panic that hadn’t been there before.

_“A dream. Yes. That’s all this is.”_

“Legend don’t fight me on this!”

Legend blinked hard to clear his mind and looked up intending to question someone about Sky but they all had that same glassy look in their eyes. A couple of them were now inspecting the lake and weren’t focused on the current situation at all.

He focused on Sky though. “You’re having a hard time accepting this isn’t real—”

Sky shouted which made him flinch back instinctively.

“Because it _is_ real!” Sky’s voice was getting choked up and his face was turning red from the effort of trying to break free. “You don’t understand, I need to find Zelda! I’m not too late! _I’m not too late_!”

Legend took a huge step back at the utter pain in Sky’s voice. He was wracking his brain to find what triggered this and to figure out why the others weren’t as concerned as he was about this. Twilight looked down at Sky in pity. Warriors’ eyes were full of sadness. Why were they treating this like it was a normal occurrence?

“Hylia…” Wild breathed. “Is he having a flashback to his adventure?”

Twilight told them he figured so but that only sent Legend reeling.

“What?” He questioned the scarred hero but Wild only gave him an uncharacteristically hard look.

“Maybe if you would stop pushing this nonsense about his home being nothing but a dream and minimizing the severity of the situation.” Wild’s words felt like a slap in the face but Legend ignored the panic starting to build up in his chest and glared right back at Wild.

“I repeat my earlier question: _what_?”

The Captain came to stand in between them. Legend side-stepped the hand Warriors was about to put on his shoulder to make sure they wouldn’t start fighting.

“You heard me.”

Legend was starting to see red. “What do you mean nonsense? I thought we all agreed? I know what I’m talking about here!”

_“Are you dreaming?”_

Wild jabbed his finger at him accusatively but Legend was so lost as to how this was now supposedly his fault. “We get it! You had a bad experience but right now we’re dealing with a real problem here. For all we know the shadow might be behind all of this: poisoning the lake. The War. Skyloft falling to the Surface. So get your head out of the past, Legend.”

But it wasn’t a real problem! None of this was real!

_“A dream. Are you dreaming?”_

_Shut. Up._

“You can only say that because you can’t remember your past!” He’d meant to bite his tongue to keep himself from blurting that out but he was too angry to care about the consequences of his words. The look on Wild’s face was deadly and if Warriors hadn’t held him back he would have tried to deck Legend.

This was wrong. Why were they fighting? Literally, everything had been fine a few moments ago and now everybody is acting like he was lying about this being a dream.

“Wind, help me out here,” Legend pleaded with the sailor but the kid turned away and wouldn’t meet his eye.

“I don’t think I can,” he said hesitantly. “Mine was _real_ , Legend. It was never a dream for me.” Another slap in the face. Legend was past confusion as the panic in his chest started to creep up his throat. They weren’t acting normal. No one was acting as they should but Legend hasn’t taken his eyes off them all day and nothing happened to make them act like this.

_“They don’t believe you because they were never real to begin with.”_

“Time!”

The old man had his good eye closed. “As much as I would like to empathize with you, Vet, both of my adventures were very real.”

All of a sudden it was like he had cotton shoved in his ears. “Don’t…what are you doing? Why are you…? This _isn’t real_! Why won’t you believe me?”

Legend started to back away from them with his hands out in front of him. Hyrule reached for him but he shied away from his touch. What was going on? This…wasn’t this supposed to be Sky’s Nightmare, not his?

Unless it _was_ his. The realization hit him in the gut with the full force of a Moblin’s club.

_I’m dreaming. I—none of this is real._

The voice in his head started laughing.

His skin started to feel wet and burned from being exposed to the sun for too long. The scent of saltwater filled his nose even though he was nowhere near an ocean.

“Legend, wait! They didn’t mean it like that!” Hyrule grabbed his arm but Legend ripped away from him as soon as he did to not give his brain enough time to process what it felt like.

It was so obvious how did his mind keep tricking him into thinking any of this was real? Was he really lucky enough to have eight people dropped on his doorstep that even remotely understood him and what he’s gone through?

He needed to get as far away from here as possible. He needed to get out.

“Goddesses,” he whispered in horror. “This isn’t real. Are _any_ of you even real?” Legend started to pull on his hair and squeezed his eyes shut.

_“Are you dreaming?”_

“No! Shut up! I can’t go through this again! No, Melody is real! Melody is real! My daughter, my little songbird…Melody is real.”

His breath was coming in short bursts and his heart hurt physically like there was something wrong with it and it made him freak out even more.

“Oh, Island Boy, how can you be so certain she’s real when you have not held her in an eternity?” A male voice hissed from behind him. The voice that had been inside his head.

_What the—?_

Legend was too slow to respond and his brain became overwhelmed with pain. As he had tried to dodge to the left a black blade shot forward and sliced his side open. He let out a gargled cry of pain and collapsed to his knees holding his side.

“Oh, dear. How terribly rude of me. My sword slipped.”

People called out his name and Hyrule rushed forward with his sword ready. The figure that stabbed him stood over him and when Hyrule brought his sword down on the figure he was stopped. The look of horror on Hyrule's face made Legend look up and he felt terror seep into his own bones.

It was a tall man with skin and hair as pale as snow. His face was covered in a horrible smirk that was made worse by the man licking his lips slowly. As creepy as that was, what made Legend’s heart stop was the fact that the man had stopped Hyrule’s magic sword with two fingers and was holding it in place no matter how hard Hyrule struggled.

“Now, now. Must we react so violently on our first meeting?” He pushed back on Hyrule’s sword which sent the kid tumbling back onto the ground.

Sky let out a sharp gasp. “Twi. Let me up.”

Twilight did not argue and stepped away from Sky who stood faster than Legend’s ever seen him move. The Master Sword was in his hands pointing at the figure even quicker.

“Leave him alone, Ghirahim!”

The Ghirahim person laughed in a way that sent shivers down his spine. Bad ones. Not the kind that Marin gave him whenever she would—Legend coughed and then groaned while holding his side. Now was _not_ the time to think about that. He must have lost a lot of blood if his head was getting fuzzy enough to wander in an intense moment like this.

It was a deep cut that probably would need more than one potion to fix. Except they hadn’t gotten the chance to restock on potions since their time in Lorule. He knew he shouldn’t move around too much with an injury like this but that didn’t stop him from trying to crawl away from Ghirahim.

Trying being the operative word here seeing as soon as he inches away slightly the very sword that cut his side open was thrust into the ground right next to his head, nicking his ear. He stopped moving instantly.

The others now stood at Sky’s side with their weapons ready.

Ghirahim stopped laughing abruptly. “So. You’ve returned, _Sky Child_.” Legend did not miss the way Sky flinched at the name. “Have you come to see the fruits of your labor? All of this chaos could not have been possible without you. After all, you were too late, weren’t you?”

Legend had no idea what the guy was talking about but he remembered Sky’s original outburst.

Sky was in absolutely no condition to fight and should not be holding a sword as he squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “No! You’re wrong! I wasn’t late! I wasn’t!”

With the exception of Sky, The others were looking more and more confused and Legend could see their eyes getting clearer. Was this guy the reason they’d started acting weird?

Warriors was quick to stand in front of Sky. “To think we’d meet again, you creep. Get away from him or you’ll end up with a few more holes in your body. Can’t stop us all.”

The guy chuckled and kneeled behind Legend. He tried to get away but was unprepared for the jolt of pain that ran through his body when Ghirahim grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked his head back. Legend tried not to cry out but the blood loss was starting to get to him and he couldn’t help it.

“I’m sure we don’t need to end our first time together with a fight.” Ghirahim’s head was right next to Legend’s and even if he wasn’t currently bleeding out he would have uncomfortable with his closeness. It got worse when Ghirahim turned his head to whisper in his ear.

“Isn’t that right? _Papa_?” His grip on Legend’s hair tightened as Legend closed his eyes. If only his limbs would agree to work like he wanted them to. He wanted nothing more than to take his sword and cut the guy’s tongue out and then throw up afterward.

Ghirahim let go of Legend suddenly to pull the sword from the ground and swung it through the air. Legend fell to the ground with a grunt of pain and saw one half of one of Wild’s arrows land near his head. The tip was yellow and it sparked with electricity shortly before sputtering out.

Wild’s bow was a recurve bow in yellow and gray with a scrap of blue fabric tied off the end of it. Ghirahim didn’t look too pleased from what Legend could see out of the corner of his eye. Hylia it hurt to breathe. Were his ribs supposed to feel like that?

Ghirahim stepped away from Legend with his hands raised in a casual manner. “Fortunately for you little insects, as much as I would love to spend the time cutting you to pieces slowly while listening to your delectable screams.” He sighed wistfully. “I have much more important matters to attend to.” He stared right at Sky while he licked his lips again.

Ghirahim disappeared in a puff of smoke just as Legend was ready to keel over from blood loss. Well, as much as he could keel over since he was already half lying on the ground. Wild was the first one to reach him. He was starting to feel cold in places and his vision was getting blurry just as Wild forced his mouth open to pour an elixir down his throat.

Legend choked on the taste. It burned through his body like normal potions did, the magic searching for any ailments it could heal. It located the gash on his side and his nerves felt like they were being dowsed in flames for the briefest of seconds before they reconnected themselves. He felt his skin stitch itself back together as much as the magic allowed.

The potion did wonders for the pain though. He could finally breathe again without wanting to rip out a few ribs for getting in the way.

Legend sat up with Wild and Hyrule’s help. He spat a bit of stray potion from his mouth onto the ground next to him and wiped his chin clean.

“If you wanted proof this is a dream. Right there was your damn proof.” His voice was a little scratchy but he focused all of his residual pain and frustration into it. “ _That_ was a Nightmare and I mean that both figuratively and literally. And may I just say. _What the fuck_?”

The others avoided his gaze in shame but at least their eyes were clear again. Sky on the other hand sat on the ground with his head in his hands. The Master Sword laid at his bare feet like he’d just dropped it in disgust. There was a lot more he wanted to say to Sky but he restrained himself for the fear of accidentally saying something he couldn’t take back.

The Nightmare had gotten into all of their heads and twisted their conception of reality. Legend was fortunately unfortunate to have been used to the constant mental battle of what was reality and was able to hold off a little longer than the others but it still affected him.

Wild rubbed the back of his neck. His face was bright red and full of guilt. “Legend I—”

He raised a hand weakly. “Don’t. I highly doubt you meant anything you said. That Nightmare was working overtime to sell this and it affected all of you.” It was nothing more than magic affecting their minds. No different than brainwashing. Legend attempted to stand but Hyrule pushed down on his shoulder to keep him down.

He grunted in irritation but didn’t argue. He was only numb to the pain right now but his side hadn’t completely healed over. Begrudgingly he let the brown-haired hero dress his wound.

The Nightmare. It was different from the ones he encountered on Koholint. This one was stronger but not to the level of the Shadow Nightmare.

But Sky knew it. And it knew Sky.

 _Link you’re such an idiot. I need to stop freaking out at the drop of a hat._ It didn’t matter that this breakdown had been caused by a Nightmare, he should have seen it for what it was sooner and gotten a handle on himself.

Legend wished he could just forget what happened prior to the Nightmare’s arrival but with the way his hands were still shaking he didn’t think that would happen. This whole place was tailored to be a nightmare for Sky. Legend just had to keep reminding himself of that.

Not that he wanted Sky or any of them to go through this but he couldn’t have another breakdown like that. Goddesses, they were happening way too frequently for his liking. He was losing his grip on reality and no matter how much he tried to convince himself this was real there would always be that little bit of doubt.

There was one thing he could try though.

Hyrule was putting his medical supplies back in his bag when Legend reached out to grab his hand.

“Legend?” Hyrule made a surprised noise that Legend ignored and instead focused on his hand. It was smaller than Legend’s and his fingers were covered in specks of dirt and grime from their travels but Legend could also see a handful of cuts and old scars.

Most importantly they were warm and alive. He could feel Hyrule’s pulse on his wrist. A very real pulse in a very real Hyrule. It took a few minutes for his mind to be at ease once again. This was real. They were in a dream right now but Hyrule right here was real.

Legend intended on letting go of his hand once he was able to get his panicked mind down to a manageable level but Hyrule held on tight and who was Legend to complain about having something to ground him.

After he visited the Face Shrine and found out the truth about Koholint there would be days where he would do nothing but hold Marin’s hand. At night he would lay with his head on her chest just so he could fall asleep to the sound of her heartbeat. He had tried so hard to convince himself Marin and Melody had been real.

Now he was falling back into the same patterns. If Marin’s heartbeat hadn’t been enough to make her alive what’s to say Hyrule’s heartbeat is?

“Stop it,” he accidentally scolded himself out loud. When the others looked at him weirdly he shook his head. “Nothing. I don’t think we should stay here much longer though. Sky—”

“I’m sorry.”

Legend blinked at being interrupted and then scowled at the hero. “Stop that.”

Sky looked up from his hands and he looked terrible. His eyes were clear but bloodshot. “But this is my—”

“If you start apologizing for something that was out of your control you’ll never stop apologizing. And if we are going to blame anyone it’s that damn shadow for sending us here in the first place.”

Sky still looked down unconvinced. Hyrule called out to their ranch hand. “Twi, do the thing.”

Twilight looked confused for half a second before realization dawned on him. He frowned slightly at Hyrule. “I’m not going to hit everyone you tell me to. Do it yourself.”

Hyrule made a big deal about pointing to Legend’s hand in his which made his face burn in embarrassment. He tried to pull his hand away but the other hero wouldn’t let him.

“I’m Legend’s moral support right now. I can’t move.”

“Get off me, you!” Legend pushed the laughing boy away from him so he could hide his own red face from the laughter of the others but the damage was already done.

Hyrule got to his feet, still shaking his head in laughter. “Alright, Sky. Square up. I’m gonna knock some sense into ya!”

Another round of laughter passed over the group and this time Sky joined in with a small smile. Little did he know that Hyrule was mostly serious and would have gone and whacked him on the head if he didn’t stop blaming himself.

And just like that, the mood was lifted around them.

It was Warriors who brought them back to seriousness. “Where do we go from here? And what are we going to do about whatever it was that thing did to us the next time we encounter a Nightmare because I’m assuming there’s not going to be just one floating around here, right?”

“I have no idea,” Legend admitted. When he was on Koholint he was sure the same thing had happened to him in some way. It was how he went so long believing it was real and not a dream. It only started to wear off once he knew the truth but at the very least Wind and Time had believed him. So why—?

 _Oh._ He laughed shortly and ran a hand over his face. None of them had actually believed him until now. No wonder they all still looked guilty. Was Ghirahim’s presence enough to convince them or did they still doubt him?

He stood up carefully minding his side. There was a gash in his tunic now that he was going to have to repair. “Just keep in mind what this really is. It’s not real.”

The Captain raised an eyebrow at him. “And what about you? Every time we say something isn’t real you wig out and doubt your entire existence.”

Again came the pitying looks but Legend pretended it wasn’t him they were looking at and instead clapped Hyrule—who still had his fists raised in case Sky relapsed into his self-doubt—on the back.

“Kid has my permission to hit me if I do.”

Hyrule smiled brightly at him but then paused for a second. “Hang on, I’m not a kid. I’m only like two years younger than you.”

“He’s a dad. Anyone younger than him is automatically a kid,” Wind joked but his smile still didn’t reach his eyes. Talk about saying something you can’t take back. Wind must be feeling especially horrible because he was the one who tried so hard to convince Legend at least a part of Koholint had been real.

Warriors must have noticed too because he slung his arm around Wind’s shoulder. “Why are we calling Time ‘old man’ when Legend is the real ‘old man’ here?”

A sense of calm seriousness fell over them once again as they gathered up their things and discussed their next step.

“We should go to Skyloft…or what’s left of it.”

“But didn’t the lady say it fell?” Wind asked.

Sky winced but still pointed his finger in the direction of the woods they came from. “When I—at the end of my adventure the statue of Hylia fell to the surface and landed at the Sealed Temple. Skyloft—” Sky’s breath hitched. “We should head for the sealed grounds.”

They allowed Sky to lead them again through the forest but silently in the shadows. It would be bad to run into anyone again for now. At one point they all had to hide up in a cluster of trees to hide from a patrol of heavily armed Gorons.

It took them longer to reach their destination this way but after the encounter with Ghirahim, they weren’t going to take any more chances until they got a better understanding of what was going on.

After a while, the forest became messier and full of broken trees and rock fragments. Legend’s heart broke in two when he stepped on something soft. He stopped and crouched down to pick it up. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he held the torn and muddy doll that had once belonged to a Skyloftian child. His hand immediately went to the wooden bird in the pouch at his hip.

“Oh, Farore, Din, and Nayru,” Twilight breathed as he took in the destruction around them. At the edge of the woods, Legend could see the remains of a town. Demolished buildings and a massive broken statue.

Sky took two steps and collapsed to his knees amidst all the rubble.

Time came and placed his hand on the hero’s shoulder. “If this is too much for you we can go look for answers elsewhere.”

Sky reached up and grabbed the hand Time had on his shoulder and shook his head. “We were just here not that long ago. I know I’m supposed to believe all of this isn’t real but…” A tear slid down his cheek. Legend’s grip on the doll tightened. “Look at this. This is my home.”

Before anyone got the chance to comment the oddest bird call ever rang and echoed through the ruined town. Sky got to his feet quickly and ran towards the call.

“Sky! Wait!” Warriors yelled as he and the others chased after him Legend took a step towards the town but looked down at the doll in his hands again. He placed it gently at the foot of a tree and even though this was a dream he sent a quick prayer to the goddesses that the owner of the doll had made it out of the disaster.

When he rejoined the others it was pandemonium. The largest birds Legend has ever seen were attacking the others relentlessly while Sky screamed and begged for them to not use their weapons against them. Just as he was about to question what was going on another bird squawked from behind him.

Legend had to roll in order to dodge the thing’s talons which probably wasn’t the best thing for his side at the moment but it gave him enough time to raise his shield.

“What the hell are these things?” He yelled above all the chaos.

“They’re Loftwings! Please! Whatever you do, don’t hurt them!” Sky pleaded while he tried to get the Loftwings to calm down.

Time grunted after one of the Loftwings nearly knocked him to the ground. “Maybe you should tell _them_ that!”

“ _I’m trying_!”

Legend has had to deal with one too many crows dive-bombing him and those demon cucoos attacks to like the idea of not slashing at them with his sword but he held back.

“Hey! What are you doing?” Wind yelled a little ways away from him. A blue Loftwing had grabbed the back of his shirt. The sailor was now dangling in the air trying to get it to drop him looking very panicked. “Let me go!”

Wild was quick to draw his bow but Sky just started screaming even more. “Wild! _I swear to Hylia_ don’t even _think_ about it!”

“Are we just supposed to let it fly off with Wind?” Wild yelled back but relaxed his bowstring slightly.

Legend reached back and felt around in his bag until his hand came in contact with the smooth wood of his red magic boomerang. It was a miracle he still had it in his bag since he rarely found a use for it but he was praising the goddesses for it.

“Duck!” Was all the warning he gave them before drawing his left arm back and flinging it with all his might towards the bird’s eye.

“It’s not a—oh!” Sky barely managed to duck out of the boomerang’s path. It found its mark perfectly before flying back into his outstretched hand.

The Loftwing gave a pained squawk which caused Wind to fall into Hyrule making them both collapse to the ground in a heap. It wasn’t enough to damage the bird’s eye but it sure made it mad. The blue Loftwing set its sights on Legend and charged at him.

He prepared to throw his boomerang again but never got the chance as another Loftwing barreled right into it. The squawking increased tenfold as about seven other Loftwings came into the scene and started to fight off the three that had been attacking them.

At least Loftwings were smart enough to know when they were outnumbered. After a series of cries from the attacking Loftwings—that if Legend spoke bird he was sure it wasn’t anything good—they flew off.

The Loftwing that had saved Legend was a bit bigger than the others and was a beautiful red color.

Twilight and Time were helping Wind and Hyrule up when a few of the new Loftwings approached them. Time threw his shield up and stood in between the birds and the three heroes.

They didn’t start attacking right away but Legend was still tense even when Sky let out a cheer of relief. The red Loftwing made a cooing noise and leaped towards Sky. It happened too fast for anyone to get a warning out but it turned out they didn’t need to. The Loftwing nuzzled its beak against Sky’s cheek and Legend thought Sky was about to start crying again. He threw his arms around its neck and buried his face in its feathers.

“Crimson? You—you recognize me?” Sky pulled back looking bewildered. “What’s going on here? How come you can recognize me when Groose and Pipit can’t?”

The Loftwing cooed again and bumped Sky’s chest with his beak. Sky's smile was sad as he patted his hand on the bird’s beak. “Our bond really is that strong, isn’t it?”

Legend was beyond confused and looked to his left at Warriors for an explanation.

“The Loftwings carry the people of Skyloft on their backs as they fly. We’ve been to Skyloft a handful of times and they’ve never been hostile to us before.” He pointed to the red Loftwing that was now gesturing with its head to the sky. “That one—in the real world—belongs to Sky.”

Twilight came to join them. “How is it the Loftwing can recognize Sky when no one else does?”

Legend didn’t have a good enough answer for him. “I don’t know. When I arrived on Koholint Island I knew no one and no one knew me. I mean, the owl recognized me as a hero but that just may have been because I owned the sword that had washed ashore.”

“What’s he doing?” Time asked Sky. The Loftwing was now circling around him and gesturing to his back. Sky climbed on top of its back with practiced ease but it may have been a knee-jerk reaction because once he was up there he blinked like he hadn’t realized what he was doing. The Loftwing squawked again and started to gesture up at the sky again.

“I think he wants to take us somewhere.” As if in response Sky’s Loftwing started flapping its wings lifting up into the air a few feet and hovering there for a few moments. Sky pointed at the other Loftwings that were now crouched down. “Get on and hold on tight.”

Wait.

_Wait._

Sky didn’t actually expect them to _ride_ these things. Did he?

At least he wasn’t the only one who looked hesitant. Wind took a huge step back away from the one closest to him.

“Come on, guys. It’s just like riding a horse.”

It was _not_ like riding a horse!

Legend clung so tightly to the bird he was afraid he was going to start ripping feathers out. His internal organs were not in the places they needed to be and he was pretty sure he was screaming but, then again, he could just see the ground below them get further and further away and his mind had gone entirely blank.

Meanwhile, Sky was laughing. Actually laughing. With his head thrown back and his arms raised, brushing his fingers through the clouds. All Legend could think was _how_? Wasn’t he afraid of falling off this thing?

Legend’s Loftwing hit a rough patch of Wind that had him holding on even tighter. _Oh, Farore. Get me off of this thing!_

The goddess of courage must have been listening to him because seconds later a floating chunk of rock became visible through the clouds. He didn’t even stop to question why it was there or how it was floating but it looked very much like a piece of solid ground to him and he wanted nothing more than to have both of his feet planted firmly on that rock.

As soon as the Loftwing touched down Legend rolled off so fast he was sure the wound on his side was going to reopen. He pressed his forehead to the very, very solid rock and thanked Farore for looking out for him once again.

The others looked as relieved as he felt.

Wind was holding his stomach and looked a bit green in the face. “I am never doing that again. _Never._ ”

“How do you plan on getting down then, sailor?” Sky looked better than he has since they got stuck in this dream. He pressed his forehead against his Loftwing’s before it lifted off the ground again and disappeared into the clouds with the other Loftwings.

Something soft brushed against Legend’s hand and his immediate reaction was to jump away with his hand on his sword. The potion he took earlier must have started to wear off because of course, that would be the motion that irritated his wound. Imagine his surprise when he wasn’t faced with an enemy but a little furry animal that reminded him of a kitten.

There were dozens of them and in seconds the group of heroes was surrounded.

“They’re…cute,” Twilight said with an oddly excited gleam in his eye. If he’d been in his wolf form Legend was sure his tail would be wagging.

“They’re Remlits. They’re a nuisance.” Sky grimaced but it wasn’t out of fear more of annoyance. “Until I helped a demon turn into a human they would become vicious and attack me out of nowhere at night.”

Hyrule blinked and whispered in Legend’s ear. “What’s a human?”

Legend raised an eyebrow at him not sure if he was being serious or not but his face didn’t show any sign of joking. “Just another name for us Hylians, ‘Rule.”

“Their ears are usually short and round though,” Twilight commented as he knelt down and offered his hand out for a close-by Remlit to sniff.

Legend stood with a badly concealed wince but no one was paying attention to him at the moment so he didn’t have to get yet another potion forced down his throat. He took the opportunity to look around.

He had to admit that the sight was absolutely breathtaking. It could never hold a candle to Marin, of course, but it sure did try. The sky was painted in bright oranges and pinks from the light of the setting sun. It was an odd and terrifying thing to look down and see nothing but clouds below him but at the same time peaceful.

“Why did the Loftwings want to bring us up here?” Four asked as he scratched one Remlit under its chin to make it purr.

“I’m not sure,” Sky said as he tried to shoo a few Remlits away with his foot. “Maybe there’s something up here like a clue that’ll tell us more about why the war started or how Gorons managed to make Skyloft fall to the Surface?” He gazed sadly at a big open space of sky in between a few other small floating islands just as the last few rays of sunlight dipped below the clouds and the sky overhead turned a darker and darker blue.

Legend looked up at the appearing stars. This is the brightest he’s ever seen them but they looked a little different than normal. Wild made a confused noise, he must have noticed it too because he asked if they had different stars.

Surprisingly it was Four who gave an answer. “They change over time. Shifting in the sky. They’re still the same stars just in different places.” He was close enough to Four that he could see the purple tint in his eyes and the small smile on his face.

Honestly, they should have seen it coming. They haven’t had this peaceful of a time since they entered the nightmare. It was like a switch had been flipped. The Remlit that Four had been petting contentedly out of nowhere hissed and bit his hand.

Four yelped and leaped away holding his now bleeding hand. The same happened to Twilight but the ranch hand was able to pull his hand away quick enough.

All of the Remlits that five seconds ago had been as sweet as house cats now turned as vicious as sewer rats. Their teeth were bared in snarls and they each leaned back on their haunches ready to pounce.

Legend backed into Warriors. “Uh…Sky?”

Sky sighed in irritated resignation as he drew the Master Sword. An action that Twilight looked especially offended by.

“You are _not_ using the holy sword to fight off a few stray animals!”

Sky didn’t lower the blade. “I’m not going to kill them, just stun them a bit.”

“What happened to not hurting anything?”

“I was talking about the Loftwings, not Remlits!” While the two were arguing the Remlits crept closer and Legend wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do so he got his ice rod out of his bag. It was a nonlethal option at least.

“Um…guys?” Wind tried but it didn’t seem like the two heard him.

“What’s the difference? They’re still animals!”

Now Sky was the one who looked offended. “You did _not_ just compare _Loftwings_ to _Remlits_!”

“Guys!” Wind shouted which caused a few Remlits to put their ears down and back away slightly.

“What?” Both Sky and Twilight yelled. Wind’s answer was to point at a large hill of crumbling rocks and boulders. At first, Legend didn’t notice anything but he did notice when the ground started to shake and the rocks began to become dislodged.

The hill was _moving_.

There was a loud growl that came from under the pile of rocks and after a few seconds, a very large furry figure burst from the pile of rocks. Sky said words Legend didn’t even think he knew how to say before as they faced down a Remlit several times larger than a Loftwing.

Its roar caused the ground to shake again and Legend was quick to change his ice rod out for his sword and shield.

Sky cleared his throat and addressed Twilight without taking his eyes off the giant Remlit. "Do you still have a problem with me using the Master Sword?”

“No, buddy, I do not.” Twilight’s voice was strained as he looked at the creature in shock.

The giant Remlit roared again and all of the little Remlits started to attack.

“Just graze them!” Sky yelled. “They’ll back off pretty quickly after that!”

So, about his plans on murdering Hylia? He was definitely on board for it now after having to bat at the little creatures with his sword. Sky was right, after one hit they cowered and ran—although Legend hadn’t expected them to run and jump off the edge of the island and fly away flapping their ears. But it still was hard to purposefully attack something that a few short moments ago had been purring up against his leg.

It didn’t take long for all of the little Remlits to leave but now they had the giant one to deal with.

“Any ideas, Sky?” Time asked with his big sword pointed at the Remlit.

“Not a clue,” Sky said but he charged in anyway. That was the way to do it, wasn’t it? When dealing with new enemies. Charge in and try everything until something works. Although Legend preferred to watch it a bit longer than Sky had but what’s done is done.

The Remlit swiped at Sky with its giant paw but Sky jumped back out of the way just in time to dodge it. It meant to go for another attack but reared back in pain as three arrows sprouted out of its flank. Wild had their back with ranged attacks. Legend was about to charge in and help Sky but Hyrule grabbed his arm and held him back.

“Mid-ranged attacks only. You’re in no condition to fight. Don’t think I didn’t notice the pain you’re in when you move.”

He opened his mouth to argue but the look Hyrule gave him had him exchanging his sword yet again for his ice and fire rods.

From where Legend stood—away from the brunt of the fighting to his chagrin—he could feel the Nightmare energy seeping out of the giant Remlit.

He and Wild provided support to the other heroes as they hacked and slashed away at the Nightmare for a good twenty minutes. The thing’s fur was so thick it took twice the force for their blades to do much damage and at least half of Wild’s arrows ended up bouncing off harmlessly.

His ice rod had done little noticeable damage so he did away with it towards the beginning of the fight. On the other hand, his fire rod would catch patches of its fur on fire, burning it away to reveal a much softer target for his friends to hit.

Sky was the one to deal the finishing blow. The Remlit screamed one last horrible time before collapsing on the rocky ground. It disappeared in a wisp of dark purple matter and the island was quiet once again.

The heroes sat and laid around in clumps trying to catch their breath.

Twilight was sitting next to where Sky was laying.

“I take back what I said about them being cute.”

Sky laughed—and coughed while laughing—at Twilight’s comment.

“The Nightmares you faced on the island weren’t all this bad, were they, Vet?” Hyrule asked in between taking sips of water.

He shook his head. They’d all been normal. Probably because the Nightmare hadn’t wanted to tip him off that it had all been a dream.

The moon was high in the sky by the time they collected themselves enough to start searching the island for clues. After an hour of searching, though, they all came up empty.

This time it was Warriors who tried to pick the fight with Sky about the Loftwings bringing them up here only to dump them in a trap.

A loud sound echoed through the air making the ground below them shake yet again. At this point Legend was starting to question the stability of the island and whether or not it would stay afloat. It was a sound Legend knew all too well and it brought back unhealed feelings of rage and anger and spite. There was only one reason he would hear a whale’s call so high above any ocean.

Through the clouds, the large gray beast of an animal appeared and circled around the floating island. He relaxed slightly because this one did not resemble the Windfish in the slightest. Sky let out a happy cheer.

Legend and Wind shared a glance before looking at Sky who broke out in a small smile as he waved his arms toward the whale—his argument with Warriors long forgotten. As far as he knew Sky had only ever been on one adventure and judging by his reaction to all this it was safe to say illusions had no part in it. So how was it that Sky knew a floating sentient whale then?

The whale floated through the sky until it came up close enough to the floating island to look at them.

“This is why the Loftwings brought us here. Levias!” Sky shouted.

The whale was slow to respond. “You call out to me, little one, with such familiarity. Yet I have no recollection of meeting someone with such a strange aura as yourself.” Levias’ giant eye swiveled to glance at the other heroes. “Your companions as well.”

Legend dug his nails into his arm and bit his lip. This wasn’t the Windfish but still, it would have been easier to come face to face with his skeleton in Wild’s Hyrule than a living being so close in resemblance.

His bitterness sat on the tip of his tongue. The words he wanted to say to the Windfish clogged up his throat.

Levias’ gaze locked on Legend. “This one bears much resentment in his heart.”

It would have been a smart idea to keep his mouth shut but Legend couldn’t help it. “Can you blame me? I had my whole life destroyed because someone like you couldn’t keep a Nightmare at bay.”

Levias hummed. “And a part of you wishes I were the very enemy behind this for you to take your anger out on.”

“Again: can you blame me?”

The whale blinked slowly and gave what sounded like a laugh. “Alas, I am not that which you seek.”

Warriors stepped forward. “But you know what we’re looking for?”

Levias nodded his big head. “You come seeking answers as to the events that transpired five years ago. As a witness I must warn you, you may not like what I have to say, Heroes of the Goddess.”

Legend squinted at Levias. How had he known they were heroes if he didn’t know who they were? _The owl knew, though. He took one look at me and called me the Messenger of Awakening._

He’d puffed up his chest at the ridiculous title at first. Back before he understood that by helping the Windfish he would be hurting many others.

Sky told the whale to tell them everything he knew and to not hold anything back. Levias was still hesitant but obliged anyway.

Five years ago things had been peaceful on both the Surface and up in Skyloft. In fact, without Sky or Zelda’s presence, the events that transpired during his adventure never came to pass and both peoples lived their lives in blissful unawareness of the fact the other existed. But one day a darkness entered the world. This darkness corrupted first the animals but after time it became to affect the people as well.

The people of Skyloft became agitated. Neighbors were turning on each other left and right. Friends became enemies. It was in and of itself, a nightmare unfolded.

The same was to be said for the happenings down on the Surface. Where once the Gorons were a peaceful race content to stay in their mountain and mine or to explore the vastness of their world, now they forged weapons of war in their forges.

Levias could not pinpoint a certain event that tipped the scales to chaos but he did know that the darkness whispered lies into each nation’s leaders’ ears. The lies spread and so did the fear. Fear that one would destroy the other if they weren’t taken care of first.

The day Skyloft fell was one Levias said he would never forget. Boulders shot up from beneath the clouds and it was as if Hylia’s magic that kept it afloat disappeared in a single breath.

The destruction was so horrible Levias refused to elaborate on it and Legend could tell Sky was grateful for it.

“The darkness still festers in this world, little heroes. Deep within Death Mountain, it lies in wait as it has for the past five years. Awaiting your arrival I presume?”

Sky looked a little green but he nodded without hesitance. For the first time in a long time, they had clear directions as to where they were supposed to go and an actual objective.

They thanked Levias just as the cries from the Loftwings could be heard from below them.

“I wish you well on your journey, little heroes. May the goddess light your path.” And with that Levias disappeared again into the dark clouds.

So, Death Mountain it was then. The problem now was getting back down to the surface. Legend wasn’t too keen on the idea of flying on a Loftwing again and he was sure he wasn’t the only one thinking it.

“Are they going to stay down there all night?” He asked Sky as he leaned over the side to watch the Loftwings circling down below.

“Only if you do.”

Legend didn’t get the opportunity to ask Sky what he meant by that because the nicest hero out of all of them combined just pushed him off the side of the island. He couldn’t remember if he screamed or not but just when he thought he was about to plummet to his doom, he landed securely on the back of a Loftwing.

He wasn’t even sure if his heart was even beating anymore. Above him, he heard a few scattered screams from his companions as Sky had probably done the same to them as he did to him.

Wind was cursing Sky the whole time it took them to descend to the Surface loud enough that Legend could hear him over the roar of the wind in his ears.

The Loftwings dropped them off at the foot of the mountain and took off again without stopping for goodbyes.

Time had to physically hold Wind back from pummeling Sky who’s only response was to shrug and say they would never have jumped on their own. Which, okay _yes_ that was true but he could at least have warned them.

They stood at the entrance of the mountain and waited for Wild to pass them each a bottle of Fireproof Elixir. It was the _foulest_ thing Legend had ever tasted and it was all he could do to not immediately throw it back up. It also made his skin feel all tingly in a weird kind of way that he couldn’t quite describe.

At least he wasn’t the only one who had trouble swallowing the elixir. How Wild managed to down it without flinching he had no idea. Maybe the kid had no taste buds.

The plan was to sneak into the mountain unnoticed by the Gorons but…ah…that lasted no more than five steps into the mountain.

The Gorons were quick to surround them with weapons Legend had never seen in a Goron’s hand before pointed in their faces.

An older Goron with pure white hair stepped forward. “When the master said a band of humans would come, I didn’t think they’d be this… _short_.” The other Gorons all laughed like the one leader Goron had made the funniest joke in the world. Well, Legend had to live a whole life full of short jokes he was used to them.

“You’ll be coming with us,” the leader Goron said but his face morphed into a snarl when he spied Hyrule’s crest on Warriors’ scarf. “And you’ll do it _quietly_ with no funny business, _filthy Skyloftians_.”

He imagined how much Sky was refraining himself from lashing out. The Gorons tormented them the entire way. When they called them ‘birds with clipped wings’ Twilight had to hold Sky back. It wasn’t as if they couldn’t take on a bunch of Gorons but Legend didn’t figure any of them would come out of it okay. After all, they would be stuck with the memory of fighting their allies for the remainder of their lives.

The room they were led to was more like a giant cavern with scones with lit torches all lined up on the walls. It was empty too. Not even the Gorons who escorted them stayed behind after they closed and locked them in.

Legend and the others all stood in a cluster with their backs to one another ready for anything. They were all veterans in this sense. They knew a battle was on the horizon. It was likely why the Gorons didn’t bother disarming them.

For an eerily long time, nothing happened but then out of the blue, the Master Sword on Sky’s back glows and chimes a few times before a dark purple light burst from it. The dark blob of a Shadow Nightmare appeared and slowly started to change its form. Sky backed up suddenly and ran into Warriors who had just about the same look on his face.

“Fi?” Came Sky’s strangled response.

The Shadow Nightmare’s voice came out high-pitched.

“Power. Wisdom. Courage.” With each word, a pitch-black sword identical to the Master Sword appeared around her. One where each of her arms would have been and the last above her head. “Some of you have had the privilege of holding all three pieces of the Triforce in your hands. Tell me, how did it feel to have that golden power coursing through your veins?”

Sky ground his teeth as he drew the Master Sword. Legend had no idea who the Shadow Nightmare was imitating but it had to have been someone very close to Sky for him to be reacting like this. And Warriors…Legend made a mental note to ask him about his adventure after this fight because it seemed like he knew a lot of people that he shouldn’t.

“You’re not Fi. She would never talk like that. If you think taking her likeness is going to deter me from fighting you with my all then you are sorely mistaken.” Even Legend was getting chills from the intensity of Sky’s glare. Either that or Wild’s elixir was starting to wear off but he’d told them it should last them hours.

Wind was actually the first one to take a step forward and the sword that was above her head flew through the air and landed at Wind’s feet. From out of nowhere more Nightmares sprung up and encircled their arms tightly around the heroes, dragging them to the perimeter of the cavern.

The harder the heroes fought the tighter the Nightmares held on. Sky was the only one remaining in the center of the room.

“Let them go!” Sky demanded by the Shadow Nightmare only laughed in her awful voice.

Shit. This was not going how any of them planned. The Nightmares were stronger here than they had been on Koholint Island and that could mean The Shadow Nightmare was going to be stronger as well which was why any of them fighting it alone was a bad idea.

“This was always meant to be just you and me, Chosen Hero. The spectators, well, they will just have to wait their turns.” The sword that had impaled itself at Wind’s feet returned to the Shadow Nightmare as Sky got into a fighting stance.

Legend had never really gotten the chance before now to watch Sky fight. He wasn’t quite sure what word he would use. Elegant? Yeah. The way Sky wielded the sacred blade, fending off the Shadow Nightmare’s floating attacks, it was almost as if he and the Nightmare were dancing.

He was light on his feet and his skill with the blade…Legend wanted to try his hand against Sky one day just to see that skill up close.

It took a while for Sky to find an opening but when he did manage to dodge all three blades and rush forward the Shadow Nightmare released a massive amount of energy that sent Sky flying backward. The Shadow Nightmare’s laughter turned deeper and darker as it grew and split.

A small mass of darkness flew over and landed next to Sky. The guy’s reflexes were something to be admired because if he’d been anyone else the Nightmare that started to take a familiar form would have cut him in half.

“Your discipline with the blade has not diminished over the years I see, _Sky Child_.”

Sky flinched again but brought his foot up to kick Ghirahim away. It was then that Legend could see Sky start to panic. He couldn’t figure out why until Ghirahim melted into the darkness and reformed as a serrated black blade that radiated sinister power.

“This form…you fear it…yes?” The Shadow Nightmare became an actual nightmare. It was tall with the muscles of a beast and scales of a dragon but the feeling Legend was getting staring at it was so familiar he wanted to throw up.

He knew who this was. He may look different but the feeling…this power…this was—

“Ganon?” Came Hyrule’s strangled gasp next to him.

The Shadow Nightmare looked at them and laughed in that horrible deep voice.

“They don’t know their history. They don’t know their origins.”

“I thought you wanted a fight?” Sky cut him off pretty frantically like he was more afraid of what the Shadow Nightmare had to say than the actual form itself.

“To take on the form of such a powerful god…It drains so much of my power I cannot fully fight you in this form, but…There are other ways to hurt you then this sword, little hero.”

“If you’re not going to fight then brace yourself for your death!”

Sky made it two steps towards the Shadow Nightmare before being blasted away again by a burst of dark energy. It laughed and laughed as Sky struggled to stand under the weight of the energy’s pressure.

Legend couldn’t move. It was like its words were paralyzing him and he stopped all of his struggles.

“My hate…never perishes.”

“Stop!” Sky’s eyes were wide with panic and desperation was laced in his voice.

“It is born anew in a cycle with no end! I will rise again!”

“No! They don’t need to know!”

“Those like you…Those that share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero…they are eternally bound to this curse!”

“ _Stop it_!”

“An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!” From where he stood Legend could feel the energy dissipate and Sky was able to spring to his feet with a fierce look of anger and pain on his face and something else. Guilt? What did Sky have to feel guilty over?

The pieces of the puzzle slowly came together in Legend’s mind. Sky was the first hero but Legend never took the time to think over why a hero was needed in the first place, he just wanted to save Zelda.

Ganon has resurrected multiple times in Legend’s lifetime and many more times across eras.

Ganon had an origin as well. He just never would have thought it started with Sky. He had looked so terrified when he begged Ganon to stop speaking. Did he…did he expect them to _blame_ him for their fights with the pig?

Sky gave a battle cry and leaped at the Shadow Nightmare as it changed its form into something smaller. A Hylian girl around the same height as Sky.

He froze rim rod straight. The Master Sword centimeters away from the Shadow Nightmare’s face.

“Sky!” Warriors yelled.

Sky’s voice came out strangled. “Zelda?”

“What’s the matter, hero? I thought you wanted a fight? This form is much more manageable for doing just that.” The Shadow Nightmare’s voice went back to sounding like a high-pitched female but that same ugly smirk still graced her features.

There was anger in Sky’s eyes even though his hands shook. He thought Sky was going to be able to handle it until the whispers started echoing off the cavern walls.

“The truth is you were late.” _Late. Late. Late._ It was another woman’s voice. Harsh and cold. She repeated the words Ghirahim spoke hours ago at the lake.

Sky’s eyes were getting clouded again as he was slipping into the Shadow Nightmare’s trance once again. “No.”

“You were late,” _late. Late. Late_. “And you failed,” _failed. Failed_. “To protect her.”

“No!” Sky shouted. His left hand covering his ear. “You’re lying! I saved her!”

“Look at me Link,” the Shadow Nightmare spoke through a silhouette of his Zelda’s body. “Do I looked saved to you?”

The Master Sword fell from Sky’s hand and clattered to the ground. The noise echoed just as the Nightmare’s lies had. Sky’s knees gave out and he fell as well, his eyes never leaving the silhouette.

Legend had no idea what Sky was seeing but it put a look of absolute anguish on his face that broke Legend’s heart to see. He didn’t want to see it anymore.

Legend broke free from the smaller Nightmare’s hold long enough to free his sword and cut the Nightmare in two.

The Shadow Nightmare’s head snapped in his direction and growled.

“Legend stand down!” Warriors yelled, but Legend was already past the perimeter and running towards the Shadow Nightmare.

“No! They don’t get to make the rules _and_ expect me to follow them!”

A sword fight is not what The Shadow Nightmare had expected when it took the form it did and Legend hadn’t given it the chance to change into something that could fight back. “Look away, Sky!” He’d hoped he gave Sky enough time to snap out of it.

He must have because out of the corner of his eye he saw Sky turn his head away with his eyes tightly shut as Legend plunged his sword deep into the Shadow Nightmare’s gut.

The Shadow Nightmare coughed up a gross purple substance and then started to laugh which only made it cough more. It looked Legend right in the eye and smiled grotesquely.

“Ever the hero, Messenger of Awakening.” The Shadow Nightmare started to change its form once again with whatever power it had remaining. Legend had an idea of who it was attempting to imitate and averted his gaze right away. “You coward. Can’t even look the person you’re killing with your own two hands in the eye when you do it?”

Legend ripped his sword out and heard the Shadow Nightmare fall to the ground, laughing while it sat there dying. “Because that’s what you did. You killed her. You killed—”

It was dead.

With it gone the other Nightmares didn’t have the power enough to stay corporeal and vanished along with it.

Legend took a deep breath and let his own sword clatter to the ground. Its voice rang in his head over and over again.

_You killed her. You killed her. You killed her._

He shook his head but the thoughts didn’t leave him, he offered Sky his hand.

“I—I don’t know what to say.” Sky’s voice was soft.

“You made it so I didn’t have to raise my blade against Marin back in Lorule. How could I stand by and watch you force yourself to raise yours against your Zelda?” He helped Sky up off the ground and went to go retrieve his sword when Sky spoke behind him sounding normal but Legend could tell it was forced. However, his words made him spin around.

“Marin, huh. Was that her name?” When did he tell him that?

Oh. Right.

He groaned and put his head in his hands. He’d wanted to at least keep her name to himself because now they had a name to tease him with and he didn’t think his heart could handle hearing her name be spoken out loud very much.

Sky held the Master Sword in his hands carefully with a sorrowful expression. “About what you heard…I—ah!” Hyrule punched Sky in the arm.

“If you’re about to apologize for Ganondorf’s endless cycle of reincarnation we’re going to have to stop you right there,” Time said. “You just happened to be the one soul unlucky enough to have been forced to fight his predecessor.”

Sky didn’t look convinced so Wind stepped in. “Besides, Ganondorf isn’t the only bad guy we’ve had to face. I had to fight an evil train once!” Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at Wind.

“I—” Sky started. “What’s a train?”

Wind cocked his head to the side. “You know…a train!” He started trying to explain whatever the hell a train was with words none of them knew and increasingly exaggerated arm motions.

Once the laughter died down Twilight asked the one question they were all thinking. “Now what?”

Legend shrugged. “Last time I was in a place like this…after this, I spoke with the Windfish and he released me from the dream.” If that is what happened. He didn’t say it out loud because he knew Hyrule would follow through on his promise to hit him whenever he was starting to doubt reality.

Though he didn’t get the chance to contemplate it because the temple ground started to shake and a door appeared in the far wall. A way out.

“This could go one of two ways,” Legend said as they cautiously approached the door. “If we really did defeat all of the Nightmares the shadow sent after us then that door should lead us back to Wild’s Hyrule where we started.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Legend didn’t have a good enough answer to Time’s question. He didn’t even want to consider the possibility of this dream not being over.

“Let’s just hope it does.”

The first thing Legend noticed when they walked through the portal was it was definitely _not_ Wild’s Hyrule.

“What kind of trees are these?” Wild asked as he touched the tall bendy trees. They were weird. Nothing like Legend had ever seen before. It was like he was looking at a giant blade of grass.

“Where are we?” Warriors asked.

“Oh, Hylia,” Four cursed and kicked the ground. You have _got_ to be kidding me right now.”

Well…that answers the question about what time period they were in. Time glanced around the place in confusion. “Recognize anything, smithy?”

It was Legend’s first time stepping foot in four’s time so it wasn’t like he had anything to go off of but the fact that they weren’t in Wild’s time made his heart race. Was the dream not over? Even after the defeated the Shadow Nightmare?

If it wasn’t…

How many did the shadow have working for him?

How many would they have to defeat in order to get out of this place?

“We’re in my Hyrule.”

“Where?” Wind asked with the same look of confusion Time had and that’s when dread started to fill back up in his stomach. “I thought you showed us everything in your Hyrule.”

“This—this is the Minish Forest.” He sighed heavily while pinching the bridge of his nose. Wherever they were it must not have been good. “I never told you much about my original adventure.”

_Crash!_

The glass bottle of amber liquid shattered on impact inches away from the Nightmare’s head as Dark Link threw it against the wall. The being cowered before him just as it should because it was _very_ lucky he hasn’t decided to kill it yet.

“But you said—”

Dark Link got up close to what would have been its face if the Nightmare had had a proper face and spat. “I said individually! _Individually_! As in trap them each in their own nightmares separately! The whole point was to weaken them so they could be destroyed, you absolute ignoramus! I wouldn’t have brought them all together otherwise!”

It was a simple order. He’d even explained everything down to the last minute detail to these incompetent fools! Separating the heroes while they battled their own Nightmares was the best way he could break them. He could have broken their trust with the ones they care about. Destroyed their sense of reality. And the best possible outcome would have had them destroying each other.

The Nightmare reverted its form back into its original round mass of darkness as if that would protect it from his wrath. “I’ll go tell them to fix it ri-right away, sir.”

Dark Link huffed and tried to rein in his temper while he walked back to his desk to flop down in his chair. “No, don’t. There’s no point now because they know this is a dream.”

Only three out of the nine would have been able to discern that it was a dream and only two of them would have figured it out right away. But since they’re all together that damned Hero of Legend would set them straight immediately. He hasn’t taken the time to visit the mirror room to make sure since he found out about the blunder but he had a good feeling that’s what happened.

“Sir, I—” Why was the insect still here? Did it wish to die?

“Get out. I need to think.” The Nightmare disappeared from his office as soon as the words left his mouth. He groaned with his head in his hands. His plan was going perfectly. What happened?

_I should have never trusted those Nightmares to begin with._

Dark Link had given into temptation when one approached him months ago claiming that one of their brethren succeeded in making one of the heroes unwilling to go on from their illusion. He had to see for himself but that whale god prevented them all from finding the Hero of Legend for weeks. And when the hero showed up in Hyrule once again it was like a gift from above was placed on his lap because the veteran hero had more to protect than his own self-interest. And so much more to lose.

All of the pieces were on the board to begin testing their sanity. The Nightmare promised monsters that would shake them and for the most part, they delivered. But now…was he premature in starting phase two?

Dark Link grit his teeth and poured over the maps and data sheets on his desk searching for a way to turn this around.

“I can work with this. It’s just a little bump in the road. I’ll just need to find some other way to break them. Damn. If I had known it would turn out this way I would never have let that traitor Shadow leave with the child.” No matter how much he enjoyed seeing the Hero of Legend’s face when he realized she was just a world away only to be ripped from her side again. And now he can’t even get her back thanks to that bitch Farore and the blessing she put on it.

Dark Link slid down in his chair while massaging his temple. “You always have to be one step ahead of me, don’t you?” He opened one eye to glare at the glowing intruder who sat in the chair opposite of him. “Hylia.”

She wasn’t really here in his dungeon, she was only projecting her thoughts to him. Dark Link figured at the moment he would have been the only one to see and hear her. It’s been eons since he last spoke to the white goddess but she looked no different.

The goddess looked at him with the same expression as always. With sadness and pity. So he returned it with a snarl of his own. He didn’t need her pity. He needed her on her knees begging for mercy.

“If you know how futile it is then why won’t you give up?” Give up? _Give_ _up_? Did she not understand what she was asking of him? He stood from his chair so abruptly it tipped over as he slammed his hands down on the desk. He couldn’t give up.

“Not until you watch them all die one by one!” It’s nothing less than what she deserves. It’s nothing less than what _they_ deserve for following her wishes. The sky child especially. He longed for the day coming when Hylia watches her favorite be crushed under his boot. One by one he was going to destroy every last one of her heroes. How much would her power diminish without them? Would her tyrannous reign come to an end then?

She sat there unflinching and sighed with false heartbreak. Why did she bother with facades around him when he knew her true character? “Oh, Shadow of Link…How long has it been since you’ve used your own face?”

Dark Link brought a hand up to his face. In his search for the traitor, he’d subconsciously taken on the form of the Hero of Twilight. How long _has_ it been that he’s taken on the form of his own hero? He laughed drily as he let his magic recede from him for the first time in millennia.

“That’s right. You always did prefer that one.” He’d forgotten how tall he’d once been, how slender his face was. The familiar scarf he had wrapped around his shoulders and the old tunic he wore over his armor. “Link the hero. Tell me, did you already have that Sky Child picked out when you sat back and watched Link die?”

Something flashed in her eyes. Longing and regret but Dark Link knew it was a lie. She closed her eyes and bowed her head. “He may be gone from this world but, Shadow of Link—” He growled at the mention of his old name. “He still lives on in the souls of the Heroes of Hyrule.”

Dark Link shoved the items off of his desk and stalked off to the other end of the room so he didn’t have to look at her any longer. That was why he had to kill them. None of this would have had to happen if that damned goddess hadn’t interfered.

Hylia spoke from behind him. He hadn’t even heard her got up and cross the room. “I understand the loss you felt when he died. I felt it as well. But you cannot continue to mourn him in this way.” He felt the burning power of her light magic brush his shoulder as if to comfort him. It sent a shock of pain down his whole arm so he sent a blast of his own magic towards her to repel it.

She let out a gasp and reeled back clutching her hand to her chest as if she were really hurt.

“You have no idea!” He screamed. His millennia-old pain surfacing. “ _No idea!_ A dead body still casts a shadow! I saw your tears and I felt your fake sincerity! You were the reason he spent so many years imprisoned! You were the reason for the scars on his wrists from the shackles! You gave him the sword and sent him out on a mission you knew he would not survive from! Forgive me if I don’t buy your confessions of love for him.”

“Shadow of Link—”

He let his dark magic cover him and once again he sported the face of the Hero of Time. “Call me by what I am, goddess. I am Dark Link. I stand opposed to all of your chosen heroes. They will all die by my hand weak and broken in front of each other and in front of you. This is a place of darkness. You have no business here so leave now before I lose my temper.”

Hylia looked like there was more she wanted to say but wisely chose against it. She nodded her head solemnly and disappeared in a shimmer of light. He was going to have to find a way to goddess-proof this dungeon now.

He looked at the state of his office and scowled. He was back to square one in the middle of the most important stage in his plan. If it fails here he would have to keep them chasing after him for months to come before another opportunity falls in his lap.

Dark Link took his hat off to run his hand through his hair.

The only hero he had anything on was the Hero of Legend and the traitor ran off with it. He’d made sure to leave a defective portal maker for him to find solely because it would never bring him to the heroes. But if Dark Link used a portal at this time other than the one connecting this dungeon and the Hero of Twilight’s world it would give the heroes a way out and that was the last thing he needed. So if his pawn fails to retrieve Shadow before time runs out he would have no access to him until the heroes were through with their nightmares.

_Unless…_

An idea came to him so great he almost applauded himself. The Hero of Legend was a piece Dark Link was never sure of and his experience made him a very dangerous foe. One Dark Link didn’t want to fight when he was at full strength.

He stepped outside his office and called for one of the Nightmares.

“You! Call that Nightmare back in. He may have screwed things up royally but that screw up may just work in our favor.” His smile was back in place by the time the Nightmare re-entered his office shaking. “I need you to add one more participant to the hellscape.”

He was going to break the heroes and the Hero of Legend was going to be first on his list.


	11. A Quarter Past Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Shadow races against the clock from the pack of Moblins, the group of heroes find themselves navigating a nightmare fit for a smith.

_02 hours. 01 minute. 48 seconds._

Shadow looked down at the countdown on the back of the pendant for the millionth time in the past half hour. The time didn’t tick down any faster, if anything it was like the seconds were getting slower each time he looked.

He’d finally gotten Melody to fall asleep after their latest sprint away from the pack of Moblins. They were hiding away in a cave up in the snow-covered mountains. It wasn’t safe to make a fire but the cave walls did a decent enough job at blocking out the bitter cold wind.

The first few times he had stopped to take care of her basic needs the Moblins had been quick about finding them but once he crossed into the desert it took them longer and longer to catch up.

He’d taken a huge risk bringing her up to the cold but when she was wrapped up in his darkness she was protected from the elements. It was a shame he couldn’t stay that way for the whole day because it drained too much of his power. At least up here, it would be harder for the Moblins to catch his scent.

Shadow’s body didn’t require any sleep and—looking at Melody’s sleeping face—he was increasingly appreciative of it. Watching her sleep before this hell of a race they’ve been subject to would have calmed him down and eased his mind. But now, it only reinforced his feelings of anxiety.

Her cheeks were red from the cold and from the amount of crying she’d done once he released his shadows.

It scared her stiff whenever he would use his magic and it made him feel the absolute worst. He hoped and prayed the next portal brought him to the group of heroes because he had no idea how much longer the two of them could keep this up. It wasn’t fair to Melody by any margin. She deserved to be back with her father more than anything.

The baby shifted in her sleep and snuggled up closer to his chest. His heart did the weird thing again but this time got his stomach involved. Whatever this feeling was it was gross and unnecessary and he had to wonder again why people would want to willingly put themselves through it.

_01 hour. 54 minutes. 20 seconds._

They’d already been hiding in the cave for well over two hours now and it was making him nervous. Shadow knew they wouldn’t be able to stay the remainder of the time hiding here but she hasn’t slept very much today and he was getting worried it might do something bad to her. He was really wishing he’d shoved one of those parenting books into his bag before he left.

_I should never have been put in charge of taking care of a child._

_01 hour. 39 minutes. 19 seconds._

In the distance, Shadow could hear the sound of a Moblin’s roar. It reverberated off the cave walls, startling poor Melody awake. Her face screwed up in a cry so he held her closer to his chest and rubbed her back, apologizing over and over again.

This was his fault. He was the reason she had to be so afraid all the time. If only he’d stayed in the dungeon where there was a roof over her head and they weren’t constantly on the run for their lives. The heroes would have come eventually.

But how long could either of them have lived like that, as glorified prisoners? During his time running from the Moblins, Shadow had come to the realization he’d been just as much of a hostage as Melody was. Dark Link probably had planned on using him to hurt Link as he’d planned on using Melody against the Hero of Legend.

The thought had sent a shiver down his spine.

Hostages didn’t always make it to the end of the story.

Sometimes the villain made sure the hero was too late.

_01 hour. 33 minutes. 41 seconds._

He gathered their things and whispered yet another apology to Melody before hiding them in the darkness once again. She either was able to fall back asleep this way or she’s just gotten used to it but she didn’t tense up this time.

_I’m so sorry. We’re almost there._

He didn’t want to stop and think of the possibility of what awaited him on the other side of the portal he would create in the next hour and a half, or of the possibility of the Moblins following him through it.

_01 hour. 17 minutes. 09 seconds._

He blended in with the shadows of the trees as he made his way back down the mountain. They were still being followed but he’d hoped that the cold and snow would either slow them down or kill some of them in general but was he ever that lucky?

_00 hours. 59 minute. 37 seconds._

Shadow had to stop again in the middle of a field, hoping the tall grass would hide his dark hair and clothing. Melody needed changing and he tried to get her to eat something but the stress of the situation made her throw up over his sleeve and start crying again.

At this point, Shadow was about to start crying as well. They were so close to the timer running out. Just one more hour. One more hour then he could hope and pray there was a town nearby on the other side of the portal that wasn’t as suspicious of him as this one. He needed help with Melody. There was so much she needed that he couldn’t provide her and it was starting to terrify him.

_00 hours. 41 minutes. 28 seconds._

They caught up again. This time Shadow hadn’t been paying close enough attention and he’d let them get so close that he could actually see them coming. He needed to find another safe place to hide for a longer period of time because he could only use his magic to hide them for one last short sprint before it exhausted him to the point where he couldn’t move.

“Shit,” he coughed as he winced at the sheer amount of effort it took to conceal himself and Melody. Maybe he had even less time than he had thought.

Mustering all of his remaining strength he took off running towards…well, he wasn’t really sure but he knew it was away from the town. If there was a bright side to all of this it was that all of the Moblins that Shadow knew of were still chasing him meaning none had taken the silhouette up on his threat of destroying the town in order to get to him.

Had that been the right decision though? He may have saved the town but in exchange, he ended up putting Melody in even more danger. Goddesses he wished, not for the first time that day that Link was there with him. Link would have known what to do. Link would have made the right decision.

Link was a hero.

And what was he?

_00 hours. 19 minutes. 54 seconds._

He coughed again as he started to feel his magic draining even more. If he didn’t let it up soon he wasn’t going to be able to walk.

The Moblins were still behind them.

Shadow yelped in pain when he became corporeal once again but hadn’t taken into consideration solid objects and got his foot caught up in a tree root and stumbled. But the Moblins’ roars sounded even closer this time so he didn’t stop to catch his breath.

Melody whimpered and held onto the front of his shirt tightly as she buried her head in his chest. Just a little bit further.

What was he?

The silhouette laughed triumphantly in the distance but Shadow was already running as hard as he could. No matter how much he willed his legs to go faster they may as well have been slowing down since the Moblins were starting to really cover lost ground. They were close enough that Shadow could pick out individual growls and roars from the different Moblins across the eras.

_00 hours. 06 minutes. 25 seconds._

“I told you, you can’t run forever, little shadow,” the silhouette sneered.

He ran on.

_00 hours. 00 minutes. 23 seconds._

He held the portal pendant desperately in his hands as he ran. They were so close. _So close._ The ground shook slightly beneath his feet and a portal soon appeared before him. Shadow sent one last plea up to the goddesses that this portal lead him to the group of heroes because he wasn’t strong enough to do this on his own.

Because he was just the shadow of a hero.

Without thinking, without looking, he leaped through the portal. All he was focused on was getting Melody and himself as far away from those Moblins as possible that he never noticed the back of the pendant had yet to count down all the way to zero.

_00 hours. 00 minutes. 02 seconds._

Shadow stumbled out of the portal and landed on his knees in the middle of a dirt field. The portal had closed behind him swiftly cutting him off from the era of the Hero of Twilight and subsequently the pack of Moblins.

But it wasn’t really a dirt field, he realized with horror slowly filling his stomach. Off in the distance, he heard the sounds of a bustling town but in front of him standing tall and proud was a _very_ familiar forge. However, he never remembered it being this big before.

_00 hours. 00 minutes. 00 seconds._

Shadow had unwillingly and unknowingly become a pawn in the largest game of chess in the world. And Dark Link had just made his move.

Hours later the heroes had to call it a night, they hadn’t had a break in Hylia knows how long and they were all standing on their last legs. Well, almost all of them.

Four had been quietly pacing back and forth in their makeshift camp for a while now, amidst the weird grass-like trees, and it was starting to stress Legend out even more than he already was. They weren’t grass-like but actual blades of grass looming over them taller than most trees he’s come across.

The smith had explained it to them but Legend could tell the others were having a hard time processing the fact that they’ve been shrunk down in size and now were no larger than a mouse. _Honestly._ Legend thought. _Should they really be surprised by anything anymore?_

Legend sat nearly unfazed by the situation as he let Hyrule change out the bandages on his side. They were still trapped in a nightmare with no way of knowing how to get out nor how many Shadow Nightmares they were dealing with. He was starting to think maybe there was going to be one lined up for each of them, but that was worst-case scenario thinking.

They were low on potions and this is really the first they’ve stopped to rest since before they were sucked into Sky’s nightmare. If they were going to have to battle their way out of eight more nightmares...Legend was afraid of what might become of them if they do, physically and mentally.

Sky had been silently polishing the Master Sword for a while now and Legend had to hold Hyrule back twice. He’d gone through something big back there and had needed time to process it. Holding a blade against a loved one…that wasn’t something easily gotten over, no matter how much Hyrule wanted to help. His successor had his heart in the right place.

In his opinion, Sky had been the lucky one. His nightmare at least hadn’t been gilded as a dream. If they really were about to face a Shadow Nightmare made especially for each of them Legend dreaded the moment they got to his. He wiped a spot of dirt off of Hyrule’s forehead that had been bothering him as he unwillingly let his thoughts wander back into heartbreak territory.

Would they be taken back to the island? Would the nightmare show him her smile? Allow him to hear her laugh? If he touched her again would she still feel as warm and alive as Hyrule did?

Legend squeezed his eyes shut as the memory of her last kiss burned the skin on his lips and tore a hole through his already damaged heart. The memory of the shadow stealing Melody from the nursery joined it soon after. Even if he saw her as a dream again he would never be able to face her after losing their daughter so easily, not once but twice.

Hylia, he’d been so close both times. Both times he could have reached out a hand and grabbed her but fate was always three steps ahead of him.

Something cold touched his cheek and he jumped, startled out of his thoughts. Wolfie—or Twilight in his wolf form had come from out of nowhere and touched his nose to his cheek. Legend looked at the hero incredulously. Did he seriously expect him to start petting him like he’d done in the woods with Tarin— _with Talon_? In front of everyone?

Twilight just looked at him expectantly as if to say _that’s exactly what I expect you to do._

He glared at his friend now turned wolf. He knew for a fact that at least two of the others knew Twilight’s secret and he wasn’t about to subject himself to the amount of teasing that would soon follow if they saw.

“Wolfie!” Wind yelled, thankfully, with his usual childish excitement. He came bounding over to ruffle Twilight’s ears with a genuinely happy expression on his face and Legend took that as his opportunity to leave seeing as Hyrule had finished with his bandages. If Twilight wanted to play emotional support animal he could go for it but Legend wanted no part in it.

Twilight snorted as Legend walked away to go and sit by the small fire Wild managed to get started.

“Well, now I’m convinced,” Warriors said in a light tone while he poked at the fire with a—what normally would have been a very small piece of bark.

“Of what?” Wind asked the Captain as Twilight ducked away from all of the attention the kid was giving him to make his way over to Sky who’d abandoned his job of polishing and was tracing his finger over the triforce marking engraved on the sword near the hilt.

Twilight had to nudge his arm a few times to get him to realize he was there. Sky was startled at first but his expression melted like spring snow and he gave Twilight a warm smile and put the Master Sword down to let him lay his head in his lap.

“Twi’s wolf,” Warriors continued. “It must be something he can summon. There’s no other way it can follow us across timelines like that and it definitely shouldn’t have been able to follow us someplace that doesn’t exist.”

Legend bit his lip. So Warriors was for sure not one of the ones clued in on Twilight’s secret. But he did bring up a good point that clearly the ranch hand had not thought through too well. If he wanted to keep it a secret that badly he was doing a poor job of concealing himself.

“Four, you need to stop. You’ll wear yourself out,” Time called gently to the short hero who was still pacing. Legend had never seen the kid so high-strung before, it was a little worrying. He had been checking the other’s eyes periodically ever since they landed here but so far no one was showing any signs of being lulled into the dream’s magic. He wished he could take that as a sign that this wasn’t a dream and something just malfunctioned with the portal but he knew better than to hope for that.

Four was clutching his sword—still sheathed—to his chest as he paced. His eyes flashed with different colors, Legend figured it had to have been some sort of magical effect that was causing it. “This is supposed to be a nightmare, right? And when we were dropped off in Sky’s nightmare things jumped out at us right away that gave it away as a nightmare. But I was never afraid of telling you guys about the Minish and my connection to them.”

“Are you saying the Nightmare misjudged your reluctance to tell us as being afraid?” Hyrule asked.

Four shook his head firmly. “Dreams…they don’t always seem like nightmares at first, do they, Legend?”

At the sound of his name, he tilted his head back to look at the too blue sky to avoid looking at any of them in the face.

He’d washed up on the shores of a beautiful beach with white sand and a crystal blue ocean. Met the most amazing girl in the world and had gotten so captivated by her beautiful heart that he was going to stay there. For her. For their baby.

He closed his eyes again and inhaled deeply. “There’s a Nightmare out there that has looked through your head and is going to take all of your fears, insecurities, hopes, and dreams and it’s going to find a way to use it against you.” Legend looked over at Four just as his eyes flared blue.

Four scrunched his eyebrows together and glared at the ground almost as if he were having an argument with himself. Time walked over and put his hand on Four’s shoulder to steer him back over to the fire to sit down.

“I know this is hard for you but this has been a long and emotional day. We all need to rest and spend what little time we can afford recovering.” Four nodded reluctantly at Time’s words and accepted the hot bowl of food Wild had offered him.

“I just wish I knew what to expect,” the small hero muttered around his spoon.

_So do the rest of us, kid._

Later that night as they were settling down and divvying up jobs, Legend had gotten into a heated argument with Warriors. After the past two days that they’ve all had to go without sleep, there was a long list of them who were not, under any circumstances, allowed to take a shift for watch duty. Legend’s name had been at the very top of that list.

“You’re still injured and you haven’t slept in _days_. We need everyone to be in top form and prepared for anything and that’s not going to happen if your guts are spilling out because you lost focus in the middle of a battle due to lack of sleep.” No one had voiced a complaint at Warriors’ decision except for Legend who thought he was still perfectly able to fight.

He was pretty proud of himself for the sheer number of creative insults he came up with on the spot to yell at the Captain but Warriors hadn’t budged on the matter.

For obvious reasons, Four’s name had also been on the list. His eyes flashed blue again for a moment and his face screwed up probably ready to give his own argument but the blue quickly turned red and he nodded his head looking downtrodden.

Legend watched the kid shuffle over to his bedroll and curl up with his hood drawn up over his head. It was strange to see him act this way. Four had always been one of the more put-together heroes on the team but ever since they entered his nightmare it was like his emotions were dialed up higher than normal. Like he was constantly at war with himself.

He didn’t blame him for being so on edge, though. It was a terrible feeling knowing you were dreaming and knowing something bad was waiting for you at the end and being absolutely powerless to do anything about it.

For a moment there, a pit opened up in his stomach. He was starting to get the overwhelming feeling that all of this was somehow his fault. The Nightmares and all of the suffering Sky had gone through and whatever hell awaited them ready to spill all of Four’s secrets.

Yes, somewhere in the mess of his mind he knew that thinking this was ridiculous but the rational part of his mind was being over spoken by his anxiety.

These monsters were the ones he fought in his own dreams trapped on Koholint Island. He just kept thinking over and over again that maybe the others wouldn’t have had to suffer through all this if he’d stayed on the island. If he’d never woken the Windfish.

Funny how it always came back to that whale.

Time gave him a hard stare from his position at the edge of the camp. One Legend quickly interpreted as telling him he needed to head to his own bedroll and call it a night. The thought of sleeping sent his mind reeling but once he laid down a thought occurred to him and he smiled but not out of peace.

Had he ever dreamed during his year on Koholint?

No. Of course he didn’t. Why would he have the need to dream when he was living the best one he would ever dream? It wasn’t a relaxing thought by any measure but in an odd way, it comforted him as he allowed himself to drift off to sleep for the first time in days, eagerly awaiting a dreamless night without guilt eating at his heart.

Link’s forge wasn’t more than a few minutes walking distance from Hyrule Town. Shadow knew that because Link made the trip multiple times a day. But that was when he was normal size and his legs weren’t as small as a bug’s. It took him _hours_ to make it to the edge of town. At the very least he didn’t have to sprint the whole way since he knew the Moblins hadn’t come through the portal with him, but still, it had been a long and stressful journey for Melody and he needed to find someone who could help.

His magic was still completely drained, if he could just find a warm place to stay and recover and maybe find something to eat that would be most ideal. However…

How the hell was he supposed to do any of that being this small?

The people of Hyrule town wouldn’t be able to see him and besides, the last time he was here and alive they didn’t take too kindly to him. Shadow winced at the reminder of his past. Link had just gotten the trust of all the people back not too long ago. He was afraid if he showed up now he would destroy all of Link’s hard work.

He wasn’t going to get any help from this town and he was beginning to question whether or not he should just head to the woods to find shelter. It seemed like their best option and he prepared himself to make the even longer trek to the Minish woods when a strange squeaking noise startled him.

“Ripico picori!” An odd-looking mouse with a feathery tail scurried up to him. Shadow knew he didn’t have the energy to fight but reached for his blade nonetheless. Although, he dropped his hand pretty quickly. There was something oddly familiar about the creature. And it was wearing clothes too. A little green dress that looked like it was made out of flower petals and a like-colored hat to match.

The feathery tail was exactly like the earring Link started to wear a few months ago. Memories of Link telling stories about his adventures popped back into his mind.

“Ah!” He yelled, startling the creature. “Are you a Minish?”

It blinked its big black eyes at him and started chittering at him again in its squeaky language. “Pico picori?” It tilted its head in question. It wasn’t a language he knew but he’s heard Link muttering it underneath his breath occasionally. It was proof enough for him that he was looking at a Minish about the same size as him.

Link spoke so highly of them…they would help. Wouldn’t they?

“I have no idea what you’re saying but I’m…a friend of Link’s and I really need your help.” He gestured down at Melody who had fallen back asleep during the walk into town.

“Picori ripi pico!” The Minish’s ears flickered and it started squeaking more excitedly while pulling on his arm in the direction of the bakery. Shadow nearly collapsed from relief. Maybe Farore was still looking out for him because if Link’s stories were correct then the Minish were friendly creatures who would most definitely help him out and it wasn’t dragging him to be sacrificed to some bug monster.

The instant he walked into Wheaton and Pita’s he almost collapsed again from just the smell of baking bread and sandwiches and cakes. The Minish squeaked again and lead him behind the counter where Wheaton was pulling fresh loaves of bread out of the oven and it showed him a tiny, Minish-sized staircase that led them up to the rafters of the bakery.

They were immediately greeted by a half dozen other Minish dressed in blue and pink who also started chittering away in their language that he couldn’t understand.

“Piri cori?” One blue Minish asked and the green Minish who brought him here shook its head.

“Pico ri ripicori.” The green Minish pulled him further into their little makeshift home in the rafters. “Ripi copi ripico.” It led him to a table—which was actually just a spool of thread—but he didn’t think too much of it because seconds later they brought him pieces of bread and cheese. He barely had the brainpower to thank them before scarfing the crumbs down—though they were fairly large to him.

Melody started to stir when he was halfway through his meal. He went to get her out to see what all she needed but a pink Minish approached him with its arms reaching for Melody. It was an instinctual reaction that had him hugging Melody closer to him as he shot the Minish a glare. It took him a moment to realize the company he was in and if Link could trust the Minish so could Shadow.

Extremely reluctantly, he handed Melody over to the pink Minish but his nerves were on high alert until he realized the Minish had brought over a tiny bottle of milk for her. Melody wasn’t fazed at all. In fact, this might have been the first time he’s seen her smile and giggle since meeting with the Queen back in the Hero of Twilight’s era.

Shadow was once again struck with the urge to start crying. This was a first for him. To be welcomed into someone’s home without question or being chased out with swords at his throat. The fact that there were creatures out there that were so caring and giving…

He couldn’t stop the tears this time but he did try to hide them behind his piece of bread. The Minish started squeaking again and more than one of them patted him on the back and smoothed his hair. Actions that only made his tears come more strongly.

They were being so kind to him. They had no ulterior motive. What had he done to deserve this kind of treatment? If anything they should hate him as much as the people in the town. He was Link’s enemy once. He’d tried to kill him. Why didn’t they hate him?

“R…in…k.” Shadow looked up in surprise. A blue Minish had pushed Shadow’s bangs out of his face and wiped his tears away. “R…ink.” _Link._ That’s what it was trying to say. They thought he was Link.

Shadow shook his head lightly. “I’m not Link. I could never be like him.” The blue Minish chittered again in the Minish language and tilted its head to the side almost as if it was asking him to explain himself.

He sniffed and rubbed his nose. He could feel another wave of tears on its way. “Link is a hero. I’m not. I could never live up to the goodness in him. How can I? I’m just a shadow of what he is.” He lowered his head hoping not looking at the small creatures would help keep his tears at bay but the blue Minish took his head in its hands and raised it up.

There was a sort of determination in its eyes. “Ri…nk.”

“But I’m not—”

It cut him off by pointing to his chest where his heart was. “Rin…k.” No matter what he said he would never be able to convince the Minish he wasn’t Link. Maybe they were colorblind and since his face was an exact replica of Link’s that they couldn’t tell the difference. But then, wouldn’t they find it odd that Link stopped being able to understand their language?

A different blue Minish came over from the large book it had been reading. It attempted to speak in broken Hylian.

“Hylian…hard speech.” The Minish put its hand on the blue Minish that had raised Shadow’s head and spoke briefly in the Minish language before standing in front of him. “Link…you.”

“I’m trying to tell you, I’m not Link. I’m just his shadow.”

The Minish shook its head and placed its small paw over Shadow’s heart.

“Link…hero. You…hero. Here.”

Shadow had never felt more confused in his life. He had no idea what the Minish was trying to say. From across the rafters, Melody let out another giggle drawing his attention away from the Minish.

The pink Minish from before was singing softly to her as she played with the fabric of its dress. She was happy and smiling and not at all afraid. How could he have thought she’d have been better off staying in Dark Link’s dungeon? He really did save both her and himself from experiencing a terrible fate.

_You…hero._

Was…was the Minish trying to tell him he was a hero like Link? But that was crazy! He wasn’t a hero. He’s hurt more people than he’s saved. He—

_Show me your courage._

The voice of the goddess Farore echoed faintly in his mind and he had to think if it was a memory of her words or if she was speaking to him once again.

He wasn’t a hero though. He knew that he could never match up to Link but he had a job to do and he was going to see it through to the end. So Shadow cleaned his face and made up his mind to focus on recovering his magic. Because in the morning he was going to set out in search of Link and the other heroes. He had a good feeling about this world, that maybe he was getting even closer to his destination.

“You’re going to see your dad soon, Melody,” he told the baby still in the Minish’s arms. “We’re almost there.”

Things were not as well with the heroes, however. The next morning they had set out early in search of something Four had called a ‘Minish portal’. Supposedly it had the ability to return them back to a normal size. However, they spent the better part of the day wandering the Minish Woods with no luck.

If anything, all they’ve managed to do was make Four’s mood increasingly worse. He had kicked at the ground and pulled on his hair and started muttering things under his breath in a language Legend didn’t understand. After Wind had brought it up early on and got his head bitten off by the small hero they backed off but all kept a close eye on him.

He was twitchy and his forehead was constantly creased and every now and again he would raise his hand to rub the side of his head. Legend couldn’t remember when the last time he saw Four’s irises be brown because they’ve been nonstop switching colors all day.

The only bright side to their messy situation was that they were too small to be detected by traps and other monsters so they at least had gotten a bit of a break from fighting.

He knew better than to think that. Six adventures and one ongoing trip through hell? He knew better because his luck was the equivalent of a thousand mirrors breaking all around him. Now they were locked in the strangest battle he’d ever experienced. It was a Chuchu but _goddesses_ was it massive.

Four’s irises turned solid green as he grumbled profanities while he dug through his pack and pulled out a clay pot.

Legend himself has had to use some pretty weird ways to defeat monsters so he wasn’t going to question it.

The Chuchu was red but hopefully it wasn’t like the red blobs of goo he encountered on Koholint Island where they would split every time he would hit it. He would always end up covered in slime that took forever to get out of his tunic even with Marin’s help.

But it looked different than them—different than the one’s from Wild’s Hyrule as well—it resembled more the green blobs he had roaming his own kingdom. He prayed this one didn’t conduct electricity like those did.

The problem was the rock it wore on its head like a helmet. They were going to have to deal with that first and foremost. That is if the damn thing would stop trying to flatten them by jumping around.

Legend had forgotten just how good a full night of sleep made him feel. He was a whole lot more alert and it was like he had so much previously unknown energy running through his system. He could run faster and swing his sword harder. He was finally able to fully utilize his skill with the blade.

This whole sleeping without dreaming thing felt almost too good to be true but his body felt so good that he didn’t bother questioning whether it had been a gift of pity from a goddess or not.

Although at one point, the Chuchu faked them out and jumped in the complete opposite direction he’d thought it would and Legend had been too slow to dodge. He got his legs caught up in the goo as the Chuchu lifted him up in the air by his feet.

“Hey!” Gravity had his tunic and his loose belt falling over his eyes effectively blinding him. “Let go of me you pile of snot!” Not being able to see what was going on around him terrified him. He had no way of knowing what was coming so he held his shield awkwardly to cover the vital parts of him and swung his sword wildly around him.

He had to have looked ridiculous but he couldn’t just hang there and do nothing. He hadn’t wanted to attempt to cut himself free in fear of stabbing himself in the shin so he continued on swinging his sword.

“Hold on, Legend!” A boyish voice yelled—one that lacked the lilt of an accent similar to the one the people of Koholint had so it couldn’t have been Wind. The only other option was Four but this was the first Legend has heard him yell with this much irritation. Legend had to wonder briefly if the young smithy’s irises were a vibrant cobalt blue.

“To what?” He was hanging upside down several feet up in the air with nothing solid around him _to_ hold onto.

Legend hadn’t gotten an answer but instead a sound he hadn’t heard since traversing the dungeons on Koholint filled his ears and his body with dread. Were there Vacuum Mouths here? Now? His heartbeat quickened as he opened his mouth to shout out a warning to his friends.

“Watch out for the—ah!” He yelped as the goo holding him up in the air suddenly receded from his legs and he went plummeting to the ground.

All things considered, he was a little sour he hadn’t landed on his head to avoid the shooting pain that coursed down his arm as he landed hard on his right shoulder. It wasn’t enough to dislocate it again but _by the goddesses_ did it hurt like a Zora’s fireball.

Legend was quick to stand and readjust his clothing and was on high alert to run from the Vacuum Mouth but was met with the sight of Four cleaning off his sword standing next to the now very dead Chuchu. Its rock helmet was in pieces and scattered about the place.

Turns out there was no Vacuum Mouth and when he asked the others to explain Four told him the ability his clay pot had. A Gust Jar apparently but it had done the exact opposite of what his own did.

No one was injured for once but they were all covered in the red slime that actually smelled worse than the slime from the globs he was used to in his own time.

“Hey, ‘Rule? You got anything in your magic spell book that could help us out here?” Wind called to the traveler who laughed and shook his head as he wiped bits of red slime out of his slightly-curly hair.

“I could bring forth a storm and let the rain wash it out,” Time commented so nonchalantly that Legend had a hard time figuring out if he was joking or not.

Wind rolled his eyes. “Is this another one of those exaggerated adult stories like your ‘oh I fought the moon once’ tall tale?” Wind lowered his voice in a mockery of Time’s when he said the last part. There was a mischievous twinkle in Time’s eye that confused him even more as he neither confirmed nor denied the fact.

Things had fallen out of his pack during his time suspended in the air so while the others tried to clean themselves up as much as possible he scoured the battlefield in search of his missing belongings. He’d just finished shoving his magic boomerang back in his pack when Warriors came up behind him.

“It’s nice to know you wear shorts under that thing, Vet,” Warriors spoke, probably referring to his tunic.

Legend made a strangled sort of noise and turned on his heel to face Warriors and sputtered. “ _What did you think I had on_?”

“I thought you said you weren’t going to wear pants for some religious reason?” Oh, how he wanted to wipe that smirk off the Captain’s face.

“ _Shorts_ are not _pants_!”

Their exchange sent everyone into a fit of laughter as they let Four take the lead down the path again. The kid was still as twitchy as before but his irises changed color less frequently now. Legend had no idea if that meant the Nightmare’s magic was getting to him worse or if that meant Four was starting to battle it.

Although, Legend was starting to get worried. Four was right yesterday at their camp. _Nothing_ has happened to them yet except for a few skirmishes with some monster-sized bugs and giant Chuchus. The moment they walked into Sky’s Nightmare bad things started happening left and right. So why did everything seem so normal here?

They were still in a dream, Legend knew that much. Their environment around them still felt just slightly off and wrong so that reassured him that none of this was actually real. Something bad was on the horizon. He could feel it in his bones and it had his hand twitching to have his sword back.

They traveled for another twenty minutes or so before Four stopped underneath a large mushroom. His eyes flickering between green and red.

“We’re not that far from the Minish Village. Although…” Four hesitated while looking at the older ones in their band of heroes. “Some of you might not be able to see them.”

“Oh!” Wind perked up. “Are we going to go see the Minish? The little mice people you showed me?” Four gave Wind the first smile Legend has seen on him in a while. It was small but He could still see the way the corners of his mouth tilted up.

“Why wouldn’t we be able to see them?” Sky asked.

“They only show themselves to children. I was…quite young on my first adventure.”

Something flashed in Time’s eye before he relaxed his face into something neutral but Legend had caught it. Something told him Time hadn’t gone on either of his adventures decked out in that armor of his. Legend wanted to laugh bitterly but he swallowed the sound before it left his throat. To think the old man had been a hero as young as Legend had been when he first started out.

Twilight stepped forward to ruffle Four’s hair with all the fondness of an older brother—he’d seen Mamasha and Papahl’s oldest act this way to the younger boys.

“So does this mean you finally accept the fact that you’re a kid?”

“What? No!” Four sidestepped out of Twilight’s reach, his eyes flaring blue, and he smoothed out his hair. Legend must have missed a conversation where this was brought up and he was reminded of the fact that the others had been traveling together for a while before he joined them.

“That has nothing to do with this!” His eyes may have been blue but his face turned bright red as laughter filled the air around them.

The longer they walked the more relaxed Four seemed to get. His hands twitched less and Legend thought he’d seen his eyes go back to being their normal brown. However, his expression changed from relaxed to worried almost instantaneously as he cocked his head to the side.

“That’s odd…” the smithy muttered.

Legend raised an eyebrow at the kid. “What is?”

“Usually the village is bustling this time of day. We should be able to hear them from here.”

Wind looked confused for a second before Legend saw horror and realization written all over his face. For whatever reason, he tried to talk Four out of taking them to the Minish Village but his excuses were getting weaker and weaker the closer they got to the entrance.

It was well hidden in the undergrowth. So well hidden that if Legend had been normal-sized he didn’t think he would have found it. The entrance was lined with clovers woven into arches and wild strawberries surrounded it creating a path.

Four had been right. Legend couldn’t hear anything coming from the village but if he was also right about adults not being able to see them then that made sense. Or maybe something _was_ wrong after all. Four had come to an abrupt stop with his hand placed on the side of a massive acorn. His eyes switched colors very rapidly and his forehead was creased again.

Something akin to the look Wind had on his face crossed Four’s features as his eyes settled on red and he started sprinting towards the village without warning.

“Four! Wait!” Wind shouted as he ran after him.

Legend shared a worried glance with Hyrule before the rest of them followed the two youngest heroes.

It was the most interesting town Legend had ever step foot in. Houses were mixed in among the strawberry plants made out of hollowed-out logs or mushrooms or boots or barrels.

But it was empty.

Four was in the middle of the town shouting in that strange squeaking language Legend had heard him speaking earlier desperately while Wind begged him to stop. The sailor wrapped his arms around his torso to stop him. His screams got louder and full of panic and when he finally faced the others Legend’s heart fell into his stomach.

His irises were a bright cherry red and tears were streaming down his cheeks but that’s not what made Legend stop.

Four’s eyes were cloudy.

Four had given in to the Nightmare’s magic.

_Shit!_

The pain in Legend’s side spiked as he remembered what had happened after Sky’s eyes had glazed over. There was a Nightmare close by. They had to get out of here there wasn’t any room at all to fight if one broke out here.

He quickly turned his head to check his friends’ eyes and already some of them were being taken in by the spell: Wild and Twilight especially.

To his right, he heard Hyrule inhale sharply. He must have sensed the Nightmare’s magic as well, now that he knew what he was looking for. His eyes were clear but full of caution.

“Legend—”

“I know,” he cut Hyrule off with a wave of his hand. If they tried to explain to Four that a Nightmare was on its way Twilight and Wild might fight them on it as they had in Sky’s Nightmare. “Just be on your guard.”

For now, they were just going to have to convince Four they needed to leave without pushing the fact that none of this was real.

There weren’t any voices in his head trying to sway him into falling victim to the magic this time around, however. That could mean the Nightmare was channeling all of its power into making their normally calm and collected smithy believe what he was seeing around him as being true.

When the Nightmare does end up showing itself they might have to count Four out of the fight.

“Four!” Wind yelled as he dragged him back over to the others. “You have to calm down!”

Four struggled to get out of the other kid’s grasp but Wind held on tight. “You don’t understand! They’re here. I _know_ they are!” He started to yell again in the odd language.

Wind had a very obvious look of guilt on his face as he stared sadly at something over Four’s head. Legend followed with his eyes to where Wind was looking but there was nothing there. “I—I know.” Oh. It clicked in Legend’s mind why Four was so upset.

_Only children could see them._

“I’m not too old! They promised me! _Ezlo promised me_!” Four let out a heart-wrenching sob. His words getting wobblier and choked up the longer he tried to speak. “He said I would never stop being able to see them no matter how old I got. He wouldn’t have lied to me! He promised he would never lie to me again. Ezlo you _promised_.”

It was hard to see the kid like this. Thankfully it was Time who stepped forward. “We need to get him out of here.”

“So it was just a fairytale after all.”

That was the moment Warriors caught on to the fact that dark magic was once again affecting their minds and he slapped Wild upside the head.

“Ow! What the hell was that for?” The cook glared up at the Captain and Legend had to give it to him for not flinching at the look Warriors gave him.

“Keep your comments to yourself until you’re not under the influence of magic, idiot.”

“Who are you calling—?”

“Cub,” Time scolded firmly. It was enough to shut Wild up for the time being.

Getting Four to leave the village was like getting a child to part with their childhood stuffed animal. Wind had to pull him away, every now and again whispering apologies under his breath but Legend wasn’t sure if they were meant for Four or not.

He calmed down maybe as much as they could hope for after ten or so minutes of walking away from the village. Warriors was leading but no one knew the area like Four did so they were just wandering without a destination in mind.

About an hour or so after that, though, Legend could start to see the magic taking a toll on Four’s mind again. He’d had his eyes set on his slow-moving feet and his hands firmly clamped over his ears. At one point he stopped walking altogether.

“No!” Four shouted, his eyes a deep purple color. They’d been walking in almost complete silence beforehand so Four’s voice made Hyrule nearly jump out of his skin.

Sky looked back at the smithy in concern. “Four? Are you…alright?”

Four snapped his head up but his eyes—now flashing green—were so out of focus he wasn’t sure if he could even see Sky.

“That’s not—stop it, Blue! You’re going to make Red cry again!”

“Four?” Legend went to touch him but the kid had slapped his hand away.

“Stop it!” Four gripped his head with both hands and fell to his knees in the middle of the path. “Stop. Stop. Stop!” No one knew what to do as they watched Four slowly fall apart even more.

Running was now out of the question with him on the ground. Legend briefly toyed with the idea of telling Twilight to carry Four on his back but the older hero might be too influenced by the magic to take his suggestion seriously.

Legend shared a glance with Hyrule. If Four was already suffering this much from the nightmare he hated to think that meant the Nightmare was getting closer to them. It had to be a strong one, too. Four couldn’t fight like this. They needed to keep going to find a safe place for Four to stay so they could deal with the nightmare themselves.

It was like a cold chill running down his spine. The feeling of such a heavy and powerful dark magic coming this close. It pawed at his mind for a moment preventing him from moving. It was the worst kind of violating like the hairy legs of a spider was caressing his brain, trying to coax out his deepest fears.

The Nightmare spoke directly into his mind in a gravelly voice.

_You have killed many of my kin. I can smell their blood on you, Hero of Legend. I will have to savor your death as much as possible to avenge them. But first. The small one must die. Be a good hero and wait here for your turn._

The Nightmare left his mind in the least gentle way possible that nearly had him on his knees retching. The others weren’t faring too well either from the looks of things. The leaves on the trees far above them started to rustle and before he knew it a dark sword fell from the sky and embedded itself in the ground inches away from Four. It was practically identical to the one he had strapped to his back.

He wanted to yell at Four to get away but the kid knelt there with his gaze transfixed on the sword in front of him. His eyes were so clouded over that Legend couldn’t even tell what color they were anymore.

Four reached out a hand before any of them could recover enough to stop him. As soon as his fingers curled around the hilt a bright purple light filled the mushroom grove they had ended up in. When it disappeared Four still knelt on the ground, the sword no longer in his grasp.

Legend had been so focused on if Four had been okay that he completely overlooked the newcomer— _newcomers_. His breath hitched in his throat and he took a step back as a memory came back to him.

One so old he’d almost forgotten about it entirely. Well, he’d been so preoccupied with his quest to rescue Zelda it made sense that he’d forget an inconsequential dungeon that had done nothing but waste his time. They called it the Palace of the Four Sword.

Four was the Hero of the Four Sword.

Why was it just now that he had to be reminded of something that now had horrifying connotations? He had just turned 11, his memory with faces wasn’t the best but there were clearly four spirits that had come out of the sword.

One green

One blue.

One red.

One purple.

The Hero of the Four Sword had been a hero prior to the failed hero. Almost nothing of that hero had survived Ganon’s rule. But Legend’s memory of the dungeon was clearing up. Those tunics were exactly identical to the spirits he fought.

He remembered the almost relieved smile the one in green gave him after he defeated the last one and they all faded away. Had that… Goddesses above. Had he fought Four before? If so, what the hell happened for his spirit to be trapped in that sword for centuries?

Legend was shocked out of his reverie by a smaller Nightmare’s sword nearly taking his head off. He ducked barely in time. While he was out of it the Nightmare has summoned a small horde of shadow monsters to keep him and the other heroes busy so it could focus on Four. Just as the Shadow Nightmare had done with Sky.

The only problem was, Four was currently locked in combat with the red version of himself but it was clear he wasn’t fighting back, only defending. His eyes were getting clearer since the Nightmare had to use power to keep the rest of them at bay. Legend was too focused on his own battle that he couldn’t take the time to see what color they were but from where he was fighting he could see the utter despair all over his face.

The monster Legend had been fighting nicked his shoulder forcing him to pay closer attention to his fight even though he desperately wanted to go and help Four with his.

Wind was the first one to defeat his monster and immediately tackled the blue Four to the ground when he’d snuck up behind Four ready to slash at him. They both lost their swords in the scuffle but Wind was absolutely relentless with his fists.

Twilight, Time, and Warriors were also quick to finish off their opponents and while Time and Warriors went off to take care of the purple and green Fours Twilight had been caught in combat with another shadow monster. That ended up being Legend’s fate as well, as soon as he managed to kill the monster he’d been fighting a second one appeared. His side screamed at him the longer he fought.

The battle dragged on for a long time, it seemed that with every monster they would defeat three more would take its place. He’d felt so relieved when he started to see their numbers thinning out.

Wind had long since defeated the blue Four and was helping Hyrule fight off a particularly large beast while he watched Time and Warriors destroy the other two doppelgangers.

With each of Four’s doppelgangers defeated the Nightmare was losing more and more of its power which meant Four was starting to come to his sense and actually start to fight back against the one in the red tunic. After a while Four had managed to bat the red one’s sword away and, clearly without thinking, he jabbed it hard into his stomach.

Four—eyes the brightest blue Legend had ever seen—let go of the Four Sword like it burned his hands and stepped away. His face full of horror.

The Nightmare fell to one knee with the sword still embedded in his gut and started laughing up at Four.

“Broken Hero of Light. Carve this image into your mind for all time. You who was so quick to raise a blade against a brother…” The Nightmare coughed one last time before dissipating in a puff of purple mist.

Four squeezed his eyes shut and turned away from them, hugging his arms around himself. He was closing himself off from them, separating himself. He recognized the body language and the look in his eyes before he’d closed them. The: _I’m a monster_ look.

He’d felt that enough times to know it. It was why he had left Hyrule after rescuing Zelda the first time. Without hesitating Legend quickly crossed the distance between them and pulled Four into a tight hug. Although he would never admit it out loud, it was something he’d wished someone had taken the time and done to him when he was younger and experiencing those emotions.

At first, Four fought him but he lost the energy to do so pretty quickly and gave in to the hug. He cried into Legend’s shoulder over and over again, “I’m broken. I’m broken.” Legend only held him closer.

“You’re not, Four, you’re not broken. You’re whole.”

Four shook his head as he sobbed. The sound stabbed Legend right in the heart. “The sword split me. Fractured my soul. I’ll never be whole again.”

He had no idea what to say to make Four feel better. He had no words of wisdom to share with him or even ones of comfort. All he had was a shoulder to give and he wasn’t the only one. Wind had come up and hugged Four from behind. Legend felt Hyrule grab one of Four’s hands that had been clutching the back of his tunic and Sky came over and placed his hand on the kid’s shoulder.

“You _are_ whole, Four,” Twilight stressed. Legend felt the kid hug him tighter has he cried a little harder but he wasn’t too sure it was out of sadness anymore.

They stayed there for a long time until Four was able to gather himself together. He sniffed and tried to wipe his face clean with the sleeve of his tunic.

“I—”

It was Sky who shook his head. “Don’t apologize. After all,” he looked up and met Legend’s eyes with a melancholy smile. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Four let out a small laugh but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to apologize. I should have told you all sooner. About the power of the Four Sword that is.” The kid’s eyes had settled back to being their dirt brown and Legend hadn’t seen any signs of them flashing to another color in a while. He took that as it was safe to say Four was back and all of the magic’s influence was gone.

They all sat in the mushroom grove as Four regaled them with the finer details of his adventures. The third time he had to pull the sword something in the magic he forged it with went haywire and split him into four people like it normally would have but they weren’t just magic copies of himself.

Four had been split into four distinct people with portions of Four’s own emotions.

Legend couldn’t imagine going through something like that. Now he _really_ wanted to take away his earlier thought that the others had had it easy with their few adventures. He’d never stopped to consider that the adventures still would have taken their toll on them.

There was more to the story that Four had left out but no one questioned him any further. Though, it was clear they were all asking themselves the same question. Should they use this time of uninterrupted quiet to tell their own secrets in order to combat whatever they might face in their own Nightmares? But they hadn’t gotten the chance as a flying bug Four called a Pesto came flying in to throw a boulder-sized pebble in the middle of their group.

If Wild had been a hair slower to move out of the way he would have been flattened.

“Watch out!” Four yelled unhelpfully as a whole swarm of those flying bugs came and surrounded them with some other creepy crawlies.

Legend winced as he raised his sword and shield to fend off the bugs. For once this place was starting to resemble normal nightmares.

The Minish had woken Shadow up early. He didn’t _need_ to sleep but it sure had helped to quicken his magic recovery. He was slow to blink the sleep out of his eyes but he could already feel at full strength again.

After stuffing both him and Melody full of warm food and milk they eagerly pulled on his arm and pointed him in the direction of the Minish Woods. When he tried to ask what was so important out there one of the pink Minish spoke up in an attempt to speak Hylian.

“ _Rink_! Piri cori picori! Rink!”

It took him a while to understand what it was trying to say. “Link? Wait. Are you telling me Link is here?” He must have stopped breathing altogether as the pink Minish nodded enthusiastically. Link was here. In this time period. By the goddesses _he made it_!

“What about the others? He should be traveling with other heroes—other Links.” The Minish chittered happily repeating _Rink_ over and over again. This was it. He’d come so far and he finally made it.

“Thank you! I—thank you for everything!” He called behind him as he started to sprint off into the woods. The handful of Minish cheered in their language and waved him off.

It still took hours to reach the Minish Woods, including the times he had to stop to take care of Melody but he was so overcome with joy that he couldn’t feel any fatigue.

Off in the distance, he could hear the sounds of a battle and he just about tripped over his own two feet as he heard Link shout out a battle cry. Through the undergrowth, he could see them now. All nine heroes were there. _He made it._

Everything was going to be okay. Melody’s father was _right there_ battling away monster-sized bugs. Maybe it was a bad idea but he couldn’t stop himself from yelling Link’s name. Nine heads turned towards him and he was met with varying reactions.

Shadow didn’t think he’d ever seen Link look so grateful in his entire life. But it couldn’t be because he was here. Could it?

He could only focus on Link’s face for a few seconds because the closer he ran towards the heroes, the clearer he could see the Hero of Legend’s facial expressions. They turned from shocked to overjoyed to absolutely furious in a split second. If looks could kill Shadow would have been a pile of ash.

The Hero of Legend had gotten distracted in battle and a Beetle pounced on him, wrapping its spindly arms around him, pinning him to the ground.

“ _Melody_!” The hero cried as he struggled to break free and reach for his sword but the beetle held fast.

Shadow’s next step was meant to propel him forward even faster. Melody’s dad was here. He’d finally found Link. He did something good. Something Link could be proud of. However, he never got to take that next step because at least three different arrows imbedded themselves at his feet causing him to stumble backward to a halt.

Both Link and the Hero of Legend were screaming at the other heroes to hold their fire but the Hero of the Wild only nocked another arrow in response.

“Give me one good reason why Wild shouldn’t shoot?” Yelled the Hero of Warriors while he blocked an attack from a flying Pesto. “He’s the best shot we’ve got!”

“It’s not the shadow we’re chasing!” Link—or maybe it was Vio who yelled because his irises turned a vibrant shade of purple and stayed like that.

“Four!” There was a sense of desperation in the Hero of Legend’s voice. “You’re falling back into the Nightmare’s magic, you don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Link was knocked over by a Scissors Beetle and held off its pincers with the Four Sword. “ _That’s my stupid shadow_! So stand down, Wild, or I’ll break your bow in half!” Even Shadow flinched at Link’s words. For him to even suggest breaking a weapon…The Hero of the Wild was very reluctant about lowering his bow but thankfully for Shadow, he found a new target in a swarm of Pestos flying overhead.

“Get Melody out of here, Shadow!” Link called to him as he was finally able to stand again after the Hero of Time sliced the Scissors Beetle—that had had him pinned to the ground—in half.

Shadow went to nod. Of course. What was he thinking? A battle was no place for a baby. The heroes were nearly finished destroying the monsters anyway all he needed was to find a place to hide until they finished.

“Don’t you dare, you bastard!” Cried the Hero of Legend. “ _Give me back my daughter_!” He was able to get one of his arms free and stabbed his golden sword right into the Beetle’s head, killing it almost instantly but that hadn’t been enough to untangle himself from its limbs.

Shadow would come to regret the few seconds he had hesitated for the rest of his life. He took one step towards the tree line and froze.

Something wasn’t right.

Something hurt really, _really_ bad.

Something caught in his throat and when he went to cough whatever it was up, droplets of red splattered over the white fabric of Melody’s dress.

Blood.

Blood?

Where…?

_Oh._

It was like a switch was turned on in his brain and the intense pain in his stomach made a whole lot more sense when he looked down to see a red-coated sword poking out of his stomach. He couldn’t move. It hurt to breathe. Goddesses, _he’s been stabbed_.

Cries of “ _Shadow_!” and “ _Melody_!” pierced through the air at near equal volumes but he honestly could barely hear them over Melody’s crying.

An all-to-familiar voice chuckled behind him as he snatched Melody and the sling from around his neck. Melody screamed even louder when she was taken from him but he couldn’t move his arms.

The Hero of Legend and the other heroes who weren’t busy still fighting off the other monsters desperately tried to free the Hero of Legend from the Beetle.

“This is what you get for trying to play the hero, Shadow.” The voice ripped the sword from him causing Shadow to fall to the ground clutching his stomach. It was a voice he had hoped to never hear again and a face he would spit on in his dreams.

“ _Vaa…ti…_ ” he coughed up another load of blood and he could already feel his consciousness slipping from him. Vaati laughed and stepped into view holding Melody in his arms victoriously. How was he here? How could he have been revived so soon?

Link was sprinting towards him but two blue Pestos broke free from the swarm that the Hero of the Wild was trying to thin out and grabbed the back of Link’s tunic. They lifted him up in the air kicking and screaming. Shadow’s mind was having a hard time processing anything other than the pain he was feeling.

Vaati sneered at Shadow. “The master has been looking for this,” he held Melody up. “You know, you could have avoided this fate by being smart. By joining the master. But no…” Vaati looked over at Link who was trying to fight off the Pestos midair.

“You have too much _love_ in your heart to see reason.” He spat the word _love_ as if it were a curse. “And now, because of that love, you’re going to die. Right before your hero’s eyes.”

Shadow wished he had some sort of profound thoughts as he stared death in the face for the second time but frankly his mind was too muddled to form anything coherent.

Vaati then turned his attention to the other heroes who have resorted to hacking away at the Beetle’s limbs to free him but it was slow work. Vaati laughed again as Melody screamed harder.

“You see Hero of Legend. How deluded have you become in recent months?”

“Leave her alone! Melody!”

Maybe it was the blood loss. Maybe it was him starting to hallucinate because for a moment confusion overtook Vaati’s features and Melody started to glow brightly.

It was blinding and white. A bright light far too holy to have come from anything darkness had touched. And when it faded…Melody was nowhere to be seen.

The confusion on Vaati’s face quickly morphed into something vainglorious. “How pathetic, to chase after a child that only ever existed in your dreams.”

A scream so heartbreakingly devastating filled the air around him and was the last thing he heard before everything went dark.

Melody was gone.

Not gone as in separated from him. She was _gone_. He watched her disappear right before his eyes in the same bright light that took Marin from him when he woke the Windfish.

But Melody had been real. He carried her from the sea to his home in Hyrule.

It hadn’t been an illusion from the Nightmare this time. Twilight’s reaction to the shadow carrying her all but confirmed that. She had really been there. Just a few feet away.

His baby. His little girl. She was as real as he was. He knew her heartbeat better than he knew his own. She was alive and so real.

Melody…the Nightmare had said…

No. _No, he didn’t want to believe it_! Because if it was true. Then what has he been fighting for all this time?

No. Melody was real. She was _real_. He held her in his arms.

But she had vanished just like her mother had.

_“Oh, Island Boy, how can you be so certain she’s real when you have not held her in an eternity?”_

He hadn’t held her. He hadn’t been able to touch her, to confirm her existence like he had with Hyrule.

Melody.

_Melody was never real to begin with._

He lost the ability to feel his body as a scream ripped out of his throat.

He numbly got up from his knees and held his sword out in front of him as he faced the Nightmare. The Shadow Nightmare assigned to Four to bring him to his knees. It wasn’t a figure Link was familiar with but that didn’t matter.

That Nightmare just took from him the last thing he had left to live for.

He was going to destroy it until nothing was left.

 _Is this what you want of me? Well, you have me now on my knees like a dog awaiting your command you damned deities._ He cursed the goddess and every goddess as scolding tears seared his cheeks. _I’ll fight your fight one last time but then I am done. With you. With the kingdom of Hyrule. With everything._

The Shadow Nightmare smiled grimly. His ears weren’t working properly but if they had he would have heard the other heroes screaming at him not to take it on alone again.

A hero. He wasn’t a hero. How could he go on calling himself one?

Heroes were supposed to save people and yet he couldn’t save his own daughter. A daughter that never existed.

Heroes were supposed to be the ones who made the right decisions. The right decision would have been to stay aboard the trader’s ship.

Heroes were supposed to be the good guys. The blood of an entire island’s worth of people stained his hands. Marin. Tarin. Melody.

_When this is over, find a new champion or my last act with this blade will be to take my last breath._

And like the snapping of a string of thread, he was just Link.

A broken link in a chain of heroes who were more heroic than he ever was or ever will be.

He hadn’t remembered what happened next. His mind had gone completely blank. He swung his sword a lot. He was covered in blood and that gross purple substance the Shadow Nightmares bled.

Bodies lay scattered around him and not just the Shadow Nightmare’s. Several other Nightmares littered the ground, those monster bugs they were fighting earlier too. All dead by his hand.

What a wonder a full night of sleep did to his body.

A dreamless sleep.

It may be the last he ever had.

Link looked down at his sword. Monster blood covered the blade and the hilt and even splattered up his arm. This was always how it ended up, wasn’t it? From the moment his uncle gave him his sword his hands became stained. The hordes of monsters that served Agahnim and then later Ganon. Twinrova’s monsters. The monsters that invaded Lorule and Hytopia.

The Moblins that had tried so desperately to keep him from waking the Windfish.

Someone tackled him to the ground and wrestled his sword out of his hand. But that was fine. The job was done. The enemies were dead. That’s all Hylia had wanted from him in the first place. That’s all he ever was to the goddesses. A silent sword to cut down their foes.

His senses started to come back to him and he realized it was Wind who had laid him out flat on his back clutching the front of his tunic yelling at him to stop already.

That was when the tears started pooling in his eyes again.

He’d lost everything now. His uncle. He would probably be put to death for ever revealing his blood relation to Zelda. The island. His sweet and kind Marin.

Their little girl. Their innocent little bird.

Their Melody.

His arms moved on instinct to wrap themselves around the young sailor just so he could have something to hold on to. He needed something to ground him, to confirm what he thought was real. His tears had no end in sight so he held tight to Wind even as they were removed from the land of Four’s Nightmare and into another one.

A clock tower chimed in the distance.


	12. A Melody of Healing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Legend and the other heroes face the aftermath of the chaotic events from Four's nightmare. However, they are wildly unprepared for the terrifying world from Time's youth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guess who figured out how to do chapter notes? I am unobservant as all get out. But, anywho, I think you all have waited long enough for this update but before you go on I just wanted to reiterate how not sorry I am for the last cliffhanger ;) haha. But seriously, these last two chapters are possibly the best I've written and I hope you enjoy this one as much as you did the last.
> 
> Also, I have a beta now and I am very very very very appreciative of her. Squido you're the best! <3 <3 <3!
> 
> Now, onward!

The wind threatened to tear through the sails as the ocean fought them relentlessly. Waves crashed up against her ship from all directions.  _ And the rain _ . It was coming down in sheets so thick she could barely see three feet in front of her. Not that she’d be able to see anyway if it were clear. Her hair was loose and the wind and rain plastered it over her eyes every few seconds no matter how many times she pushed it out of her face.

The storm caught them in the middle of the night. She had screamed at her crew for not noticing it sooner, but it had apparently appeared right on top of them. A few years ago, she would have scoffed at the idea but after meeting Link, well, she’s seen weirder things than a magic storm.

“Miss Tetra!” Gonzo cried over the roar of the storm. Another strong wave sent her ship careening and if a wave hadn’t attacked from the other side she was sure they would have capsized.

Tetra held onto the wheel as tight as she could, but the rain had made the wooden deck slippery and she went sliding. Gonzo was quick to wrap his hand tightly around her wrist to save her from going overboard.

To say she was having a bad day would be an understatement.

Once the ship was stabilized—as well as it could be in this storm—she pushed her hair away only to have the wind blow it right back over her eyes.

“Miss Tetra, the hull’s been breached! We’re taking in water below deck!”

“Dammit!” She thought she felt the ship get jostled not too long ago. How stupid was she to think it had just been the storm? She didn’t have time to even consider what hit them. “Well? What are you standing around for? Grab Nudge and Senza and go fix it!” Her ship rocked harshly to the side again but Gonzo hadn’t moved.

“I don’t think you realize how bad the damage is!” Her heart started to pound in her chest as she guessed what Gonzo’s next words would be. She’d never seen so much fear in the man’s eyes before. “This isn’t something we can just slap a new timber on and call it good as new!”

A second ago the wind had been deafening but now the only thing she could hear was her own heartbeat. She felt numb all the way down to her toes. If they couldn’t fix the hull then this was the end of the line. If the ship went down they would go down with it. Her hands trembled as she gripped the handles on the wheel.

A captain always goes down with their ship.

Tetra always thought that when she finally came face to face with death that she would hold her head high and laugh with all the pride of a pirate. But now she was shaking and all her thoughts were consumed by all the people who would mourn her. Link most of all.

_ Link. _

She squeezed her eyes shut as she sent her friend a silent apology.

He was off in another world. Another time. Who knew how long it would be before he returned.

He would never know how she died only that her ship was missing. Tetra knew him well enough that she knew he would never accept her death. He would spend the rest of his life scouring the seas for a ship amidst the ruins of a buried kingdom.

Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes but she cleared her throat and straightened her back. It didn’t matter if she was afraid, she had to be strong for her crew.

“Just…try, Gonzo.”

Gonzo bit his lip no doubt to keep his emotions in check but his fear and sadness were clearly written all over his face. He gave a stiff nod and headed towards the opposite side of the ship. However, he took a few steps and paused. Turning his head, he spoke so softly she had to strain her ears to hear him.

“It was a pleasure serving with you, your highness.”

Her emotions got caught up in her throat making her trip over her words. “I told you, just call me Tetra.”

After he was gone the sea jostled her ship again. How much longer did they have until they took on too much water? The storm already caused their lifeboat to break free and she had no idea where it had ended up. But even if they had been able to escape on a lifeboat the storm would have still killed them.

She pushed her hair out of her face again so she could look upon her ship and her crew for what may be the last time. Niko and Zuko were still trying to fight the wind and lower the sails while Mako desperately shoveled buckets of water back into the ocean—not that it did much. She couldn’t help but feel proud of them. They would go down fighting, like the pirates they were.

Tetra could already tell they were starting to sink. Gonzo, Senza, and Nudge returning from below deck with grim expressions confirmed it. This was the end. They knew it too and stopped their fruitless tasks and surrounded her at the helm.

No one spoke. What good were last words when there was no one there who would remember them?

There was no escaping a sinking ship. Once it went under it pulled anything and everyone down with it. Instinct had them all taking deep breaths before they were submerged but it would only drag out their inevitable fate.

It was almost serene down below the surface of the water. While the storm raged on, the water around them was still. Lighting flashed above them illuminating the water allowing her to look at her crew. They were still struggling and fighting. It was a hard thing to do, accepting death and letting go.

Just as black dots started to swarm her vision she saw something in the distance. It was a familiar figure but one she never thought she would see again. The Ocean King cried out in the distance and spoke to them.

_ “Find the sea that is far from the ocean.” _

Tetra was pretty sure the lack of air was making her hallucinate because his words made no sense. An ocean and a sea were practically the same thing. How could one be far from the other?

A bright white light surrounded them and they were gone from the Great Sea.

Her ship landed on something solid and as she lay on the deck coughing and sputtering, she cursed the Ocean King for throwing her ship onto an island. Even if he  _ did  _ save their lives.

_ I’m…alive. _ She raised her hand up in front of her eyes. It looked real enough, felt real. She didn’t  _ feel _ dead at least.

Sitting up hurt but she had to see if her crew made it as well. She nearly cried for the second time that day but this time it was purely out of relief. Gonzo was patting Mako on the back as he coughed up water. Senza and the others were scattered about the deck, drenched and exhausted and just as relieved as she was that they survived.

Now the only problem was: where the hell did the Ocean King drop them? She didn’t immediately recognize the area, could this be a new island they hadn’t discovered yet?

Once Tetra and her crew recovered, they tried to salvage as much as they could from the ship before heading out to search for people. Before they left, she placed her hand on the splintered railing, her home. It broke her heart to see it so broken and far away from the ocean where it belonged.

But ships could be rebuilt. People couldn’t be. They were alive and that was all that mattered.

They wandered through a forest for hours and yet there were still no signs of the ocean. Just how big  _ was  _ this island? After a few more hours of getting lost and turned around because they lost sight of the sun—her compass hadn’t made it through the storm—or monsters she’d never seen before blocking their path, they gave up looking for the ocean and decided to make camp in the securest place they could find.

Later that evening, as they all sat around a fire rationing what little food they had, Tetra glared into the flames. She absentmindedly tried to comb through her hair with her fingers as she pondered the Ocean King’s words.

What ocean? What sea? For the life of her she couldn’t think of any answer to the riddle. Although, it made her think of Link again. Not that she believed he would have known the answer but at least she would have had someone to bounce ideas off of.

She sighed softly and tilted her head back to look at the night sky. At first, she wasn’t paying attention to what she was looking at but once her eyes focused she sprang up from her makeshift stool.

“Miss Tetra?” Niko asked. “Is everything alright?”

She didn’t answer him and instead spun around with her hand raised against the sky. She knew the stars better than she knew the back of her hand. The guiding stars were off by a few degrees.

“What the hell is going on?”

A conversation she’d had with Link the last time she saw him came to mind.

_ “You should have seen it! It was exactly like the kingdom at the bottom of the sea. But with people and the buildings were all standing. And then when we were in Twi’s Hyrule it was like everything was so similar but so different at the same time.” _

Alike but different.

They couldn’t be in a different time, could they? Did the Ocean King even  _ have _ that kind of power? Why would he send her through time in the first place?

Soft singing came from the woods behind her. She was quick to spin around with her blade drawn. Gonzo—who’d been standing behind her—backed away with his arms raised.

“Miss Tetra, you need to get some sleep. It’s been a long day and—” She shushed him. The singing got louder.

“Do you hear that?”

Gonzo and Senza shared a look and tried to convince her to go to bed but it was like their voices were getting softer and farther away.

“Miss Tetra.”

Her feet moved on their own accord towards the forest and she sheathed her sword. She had to follow the voice. She had to know who was singing and why the presence felt so familiar. The singing was the only thing she really could hear until Gonzo yelled her name.

“Princess Zelda!” A name that she hated. It was the title of a girl from a long dead kingdom not a pirate like herself.

_ “Princess Zelda,”  _ the voice whispered in between the lyrics.

She traipsed through the woods in a trance, not knowing or caring if her crew followed her.

The song was a melancholy ballad. It was like someone was saying goodbye to a lover but neither wanted to admit their time together was over.

The singing grew louder and louder until she reached a clearing bathed in moonlight. She couldn’t help but let out a gasp at the sight of the mysterious singer. It made sense now why she had been the only one to hear the song.

Standing before her—not bathed in moonlight but glowing with divine power—was the goddess Nayru herself.

* * *

The clock tower chimed again and again and again. Who knew how many days it had been now? He’d lost count of how many times Time had played his ocarina and reversed the clock.

He sat on the bed with his knees tucked close to him and his head buried in his arms. The confrontation with the Nightmare in Four’s nightmare played in his mind on a loop just like their time spent so far in  _ Time’s  _ nightmare.

Melody disappeared in a bright white light hundreds of thousands of times.

_ Never real to begin with. _

A bright light and there was nothing left but the sling.

She was gone.

She  _ was gone _ and he was just Link, just as he’d feared.

He was past the point of crying. Right now, he felt numb to everything. The others tried talking to him; they brought him meals which he left more than half untouched. Wild could have put an entire bottle of Goron spice in the stew and it still would have tasted like nothing.

He was wallowing in his self-pity and he knew that, but everything hurt and he couldn’t move. His muscles and joints screamed at him from over-use. Taking on all of those monsters on his own may have been the stupidest thing he’d ever done. He wasn’t a reckless person. He was rational. He thought things out and  _ planned _ .

His mind had gone completely blank out there. He still was having trouble piecing together what happened after…

A bright light. Her soft pitiful cries. An empty sling.

Melody  _ was gone _ .

It hurt to move. It hurt to breathe. He thought he knew what heartbreak felt like when he woke up alone out at sea. But that pain couldn’t even hold a candle to what he felt right now. Every time his heart beat in his chest it sent wave after wave of ice-cold blood through his body.

The brightest white light he’d seen since the Windfish woke and the island was destroyed.

Over the many days he spent locked away in that room, he played the scenario in his head a thousand different ways. He could have saved her. If only he’d been faster. If only he’d gotten free from that bug sooner. He could have done it. They were 30 or so feet away, if he’d freed himself and activated his Pegasus boots then he would have made it in time. He would have made sure they did.

If he hadn’t turned his back on the battle, he would have seen the bug coming. The very thing he scolded Hyrule about back in his own time. How could he have been so stupid? She was  _ right there. _ If he’d jumped back further out of the bug’s reach. If he’d swung his sword upward instead of down then his arms would have been free to use his vast arsenal of weapons. He would have been freed sooner.

The Shadow Nightmare had held her up in the air while she was swaddled in the sling.

A bright light and she was gone.

It was his own fault. Everything. He was certain of it now.  _ This was his fault _ . If he had stayed on Koholint the Nightmares would have been contained within the Windfish’s dream. If he had stayed on the island Sky would never have had to raise his sword against his loved one. Four wouldn’t have had to experience the Minish disappearing and he would have stayed calm and collected and  _ whole _ .

_ He should have stayed on the island _ .

If he never woke the Windfish, none of this would have happened. He would have woken this morning with Marin’s arms wrapped around him, their legs tangled to the point where he didn’t know where his ended and hers began. If they were lucky, Melody would still be asleep for an hour or so longer and they could lay there and revel in the silence.

Most days they weren’t so lucky. Melody’s cries would echo off the walls of their little house as she demanded to be freed from her crib. He and Marin had a system: they would swap every other day who would be the one to get her up in the morning. Not because they disliked it, no, they both wanted to be the first to see her in the morning.

She was so tiny and swaddled up. They would get her ready for the day and whoever wasn’t the one waking Melody up would be in charge of breakfast. They would talk to her and sing to her and rattle toys in front of her face until she let out a giggle that melted his whole heart.

Marin would have taken her to the market for eggs while he dealt with stray Moblins in the woods. He would come home battered and bruised and she would say she wasn’t worried but he knew she was.

Dinner was always with Tarin. Every time, he would always insist Melody sat next to him so he could make silly faces at her while they ate.

Tarin loved Melody more than anything in the world—except for his own daughter of course. But he would always say it was different when it was a grandchild.

They would go home and the next morning repeat it all. It was a cycle he never got tired of because he had Marin and Melody and the island, everything else was inconsequential.

But he ruined it all. He lost Marin and the island. He lost Melody.

He was just Link. A nobody with no family and nothing to return to.

The clock tower chimed again. Did the three-day cycle start all over again? It must have. He clamped his hands over his ears to drown out the sound but it still vibrated through his head. Each time the bell rang.

_ Dong. _

_ Dong. _

_ Dong. _

Three more days until the end of the world and the cycle started all over again.

A bright white light and she was gone. Nothing left but a sling.

It was days, or weeks more likely, until they got him to leave the room and to eat a proper meal. It still tasted bland, but he expected that. The whole world was duller now. Colors weren’t as bright. Sounds weren’t as clear. All of his words felt empty and hollow.

They walked on eggshells around him like he was a bomb with a lit fuse but no one knew how long that fuse was. They treated him like he was glass and he hated it. It wasn’t like they were going to break him, not when he was already shattered. It was laughable—had he really been the one to comfort Four about being whole?

The memory of Melody disappearing still continued to play on a loop in the back of his mind like a thorn reminding him to never forget his pain.

He wasn’t fine by any means, but they were trapped in a nightmare stuck in an endless loop and he wasn’t helping matters by being so unresponsive. He had a job to do. It was like he could hear Hylia ordering him to be obedient. Kill monsters. Defeat her enemies. After all, what good was he to her if he hid himself away cowering in sorrow?

They still called him Legend even if he couldn’t bring himself to accept the meaning of the title any longer. But he would allow his friends to call him that. The Hero of Legend. It was the title of a false hero, a criminal. It was a name scorned and spat upon. He was the Hero of Legend, and that was  _ exactly _ the title he deserved.

That brought them to the present where they all stood around the bed that  _ thing _ from Four’s nightmare was lying in. How could Four be so trusting of a creature like that?

From the looks of things, the damage the stab wound inflicted on it was extensive. If it were up to Legend, he would tell them to not even bother with wasting the resources to help a lost cause like it.

“Isn’t there  _ anything _ else you can do?” The young smithy begged Hyrule. His successor. One of these days he was going to have to apologize for having him take up the mantle of a failure like himself.

“I’ve tried all the spells I know but they’ve only made things worse, I’m sorry, Four.”

Four’s face fell, eyes flashing purple briefly. The look the kid gave his shadow made what was left of his heart clench and where there was once anger, guilt took its place.

Here he was thinking all of these awful things about someone who was clearly important to Four. He knew better than that. Just because his world came to a crashing halt didn’t give him the right to wish it on anyone else.

But it had been carrying Melody. It was the shadow of a hero just like the one that stole his daughter away.

A daughter that never existed in the first place. Legend shook his head to keep himself focused, but the pain didn’t leave him. It never did.

For weeks now they had been stuck in Time’s nightmare. How was the shadow even still alive at this point? When he voiced his question, everyone got real quiet. Hyrule threw a glance at the old man, but his back was turned to them so he could watch whatever was out the window.

“Well, um, the thing is… Time has been turning back time.”

“Every three days, I know.” They all looked shocked that he was aware of what was going on around him. He was mourning, not deaf. Besides, he would hear Time leave the inn and play his ocarina at the same time on the third day of the cycle and that damned clock tower would be ringing again. And it wasn’t like this was his first time dealing with time travel.

Hyrule cleared his throat. “Right, well, he’s been channeling the magic so it would only affect us.”

Legend stared down at the pale shadow. It  _ did  _ look different from the other shadow—if he wasn’t so aware of magic, he could have mistaken it for a regular hylian. For Four. Anger and pity warred inside him. If only it didn’t look so much like Four, he could have hated it without question. But the shadow was just lying there with an expression of pain etched on its face and his heart forced him to remember the pain that was on Four’s face as he cried and screamed that he was broken.

To think it—no,  _ he _ —the shadow was just another aspect of Four after all, wasn’t he? To think he was subject to this kind of injury on an endless loop, just like Legend had been up in the room. He clicked his tongue. Here he was again letting pity overtake his feelings of anger. He cursed the rabbit in him for being so soft-hearted.

“Potions are brewed with light magic. It’ll never heal him,” Legend told the smithy, who was moments away from tears. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. An idea popped into his head, probably a bad one, but an idea nonetheless. “Dark magic might, though.”

He didn’t miss the way Twilight winced. So his assumption was correct, he  _ was _ using dark magic to transform into a wolf. But it probably wouldn’t be of any use here so he could keep his secrets for a while longer.

“Now, anyone have any healing items? Preferably one that you don’t mind me possibly breaking,” Legend asked as he dug around in his bag looking for his magic mirror. Hyrule knew magic better than he did. If there was a way to channel the dark power of the mirror and use it to corrupt healing magic, Hyrule would be the one to figure it out. After all, they had all the time in the world.

The others looked at Legend as if they still couldn’t believe he was actively participating in a conversation before they started to rifle through their own belongings. It wasn’t until he brought the magic mirror out that Hyrule sat up straight. He was very perceptive of magic and from the way his forehead crinkled in thought, Legend could tell he was piecing together what Legend had had in mind.

“Oh!” He exclaimed, eyes wide before hitting himself on the forehead. “I’m such an idiot.” The kid practically ran out of the room only to return with his bag. It took him a few moments of digging to find what he was looking for but it definitely wasn’t what Legend had expected.

Hyrule pulled a stuffed doll out of his bag. A doll dressed up in a green tunic like the one the boy holding it was wearing. It creeped Legend out just how much it looked like Hyrule. At first, he thought he grabbed the wrong item but Hyrule discarded his bag and kept the doll in his hands.

“Um, ‘Rule?” Wind asked the question everyone was thinking. “What is that?”

Hyrule held the doll a little away from him and tilted his head as he examined it. “You know, I honestly have no idea. I find these all over the place in my time. At first, I thought some kid lost their toy but they kind of look like me don’t they?” Legend sure hoped he didn’t just now realize the doll looked like him. Hyrule shook his head and held out a hand towards Legend.

Legend was now a little reluctant to hand his magic mirror over to Hyrule but his curiosity got the better of him.

Hyrule continued on with his explanation as he set the mirror on the edge of the bed to place the doll in the shadow’s hand. “Anyway, I found out these things have some serious rev- _ restoration _ magic.” Legend narrowed his eyes at the kid as he stumbled over his words, his cheeks tinted pink. Revival magic. He was about to say revival magic, wasn’t he? Legend opened his mouth to ask just  _ how _ he found this knowledge out but Hyrule started talking a little faster. “I don’t know how they work but they do wonders for injuries.”

“But if it healed you, wouldn’t that still make it light magic?” Four asked, still sounding morose.

The brown-haired hero shrugged and picked the mirror back up. “Probably, but I bet I could taint it a little. That’s what you were hoping for right?” Hyrule asked him while tracing a finger down the ornate carvings on the sides. “This thing is brimming with dark magic. Where did you even  _ get  _ an item like this?”

“An old man in a cave gave it to me.” For a moment Hyrule looked at him funny but then returned his attention to the mirror. “It’s connected to the Dark World, that’s probably the dark magic you’re sensing.”

“I’m going to try the Life spell again.” Several of the others’ faces went pale at Hyrule’s plan. Sky voiced his complaints reminding him what happened the last time he tried that but Hyrule shrugged him off. “I’m not going to use it  _ on _ him this time. I’m aiming for the doll. The doll’s magic isn’t something I can actively use but if I throw a powerful blast of Life at the mirror…”

Legend finished his sentence for him. “It’ll touch the Dark World and be reflected, tainted by its darkness.” The kid nodded. That  _ was  _ what he had hoped would happen. A darkened healing spell. Hopefully it didn’t reverse the spell’s effect completely. With the haunted look in Four’s eyes, he hated to think how many times they were too late.

Wind cleared his throat, jolting Legend out of his thoughts. “Could you repeat that in  _ normal _ Hylian, you know, for those of us who are magic-illiterate.”

“Isn’t your Wind Waker magic?” Warriors asked.

“Just because I  _ use _ magic items doesn’t mean I know how they work!”

“Guys!” Four snapped, gaining their attention quickly. “If you want to be stupid, go someplace else.” Both the Captain and the Sailor exchanged grimaces and muttered their apologies to him.

Maybe Legend wasn’t the right person to judge someone’s sanity at the moment. Not when the lull in conversation brought his mind right back to the Shadow Nightmare holding Melody. A bright white light and— _ Stop it! _ He tried to refocus his mind, remember where his train of thought had left off.  _ Right. _

Legend wasn’t the right person to judge someone’s sanity but he had to wonder.

The Nightmare that copied the Four Sword used more magic on Four than the Nightmare creep had on Sky. Legend knew the effects of what that magic did to a person first hand. Was Four going to be okay after this was all said and done?

Hyrule made Legend hold the mirror while he positioned it just right so that the reflected spell would land on the doll.

“You know, it’s funny. I learned this spell after finding a mirror,” Hyrule muttered as he made one last adjustment to Legend’s arms. His successor took a step back and inhaled deeply. “Right, here goes nothing.”

He held his hands out in front of him and closed his eyes. Legend could feel the magic coming from him before he saw it. A bright white light erupted from Hyrule’s hands and Legend nearly dropped his mirror.

A bright white light.

His baby crying in fear.

Melody  _ was gone _ .

Pain erupted in his heart. Was the room spinning? His knees felt weak and the room felt like it was spinning.

She was never real to begin with.

A dream just like her mother had been.

“Legend! Hold it steady!” He could hear Hyrule yelling at him but he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking. All he could see was that bright white light.

A bright white light. Marin was taken from him.

A bright white light. His Melody  _ was gone. _

“ _ Legend _ !” He blinked hard and remembered where he was and what he was doing. Hyrule was still casting the spell, his face was pale and beads of sweat rolled off his forehead. That’s what  _ really _ shocked him out of his head.

He needed to hold the mirror where Hyrule told him to. They were trying to save Four’s shadow. He could almost feel Hylia yanking on invisible reins, telling him to focus only on the task at hand. Because he wasn’t anything more than a sword. Not anymore.

The more he watched Hyrule cast his spell, the more he realized that it was more blue than it was white. He was being stupid again. He just needed to focus.

_ Focus, you idiot. _

The spell was light as it left Hyrule’s fingertips but once it hit the surface of the mirror, it reflected towards the doll, a sinister shade of purple. Legend watched the doll’s colors slowly darken as if ink were being poured over it.

Once Hyrule finally let go of the spell he fell to one knee, trying to catch his breath. Legend unceremoniously tossed the mirror onto the bed and ran to the kid’s side.

“I’m fine,” he huffed out between breaths. “I just haven’t cast one that powerful in a while.” He was about to ask Hyrule if he thought it worked when the shadow let out a whimper which soon turned into screams of pain.

“Shadow!” Four rushed to the bed, intent on ripping the doll out of his hand. Hyrule yelled at the others to stop him. Warriors was the closest and quickest to act. He wrapped Four up in his arms and dragged him away from his shadow kicking and screaming.

“It’s working! You can’t touch it!”

“What do you _mean_ ‘it’s working’? You’re _killing_ _him_!”

Hyrule avoided everyone’s eyes. “It’s supposed to hurt. That means it’s doing its job.” Revival magic. How many times had Hyrule been pieced back together by the magic of these cursed dolls? The fact that he had to use them at all sent Legend’s heart in a frenzy.

After a few terrifying moments, the shadow’s screams lessened until he stopped screaming completely. The doll had disintegrated into a pile of black sand.

For a moment Legend thought the spell had misfired and darkened too much to the point where it killed him but he saw the shadow’s chest rise and fall evenly, pain no longer marring his face.

Warriors let Four go and the smithy bolted right back over to the bed and held on tight to his shadow’s hand.

“He should be fine now, but you should let him sleep,” Hyrule said, standing on shaky legs and searching his bag for a magic recovery potion. It didn’t bring him back to a hundred percent, but color was at least returning to his face.

“You idiot,” Four scolded his shadow lightly with tears falling down his cheeks. “You should have run when I told you to.” The shadow gave no indication that he heard Four’s words.

Twilight placed a hand on Four’s shoulder. “Hyrule’s right, he needs sleep, and frankly so do you.” It took Four a moment or two to nod his head. He allowed Twilight to lead him out of the room with the rest of them.

“Mel…dy…” Legend’s ear twitched at the sound of his daughter’s name and spun on his heel to face the shadow. He was still asleep, but his forehead was scrunched up like he was confused about something.

“Shadow?” Four asked hopefully.

“Need…you back…your dad…” He deflated slightly when he realized his shadow was only talking in his sleep. Legend, on the other hand, flinched very visibly and pushed his way through the others so he didn’t have to hear any more. The last thing he needed was another breakdown.

“Close…so close…”

He pressed his hands tightly over his ears. That damned clock tower was chiming again and Legend wanted to scream. If it could just stop ringing. If everything could just  _ stop. _

He found himself a secluded corner somewhere in the inn, he wasn’t quite sure where he was but that wasn’t important. He hid himself away trying to keep his emotions in check and waited for the stupid bell to quit ringing.

Later that evening, once he finally collected himself and Wild was finishing up dinner, Legend took the opportunity to corner Hyrule. Everyone was either down in the lobby of the inn or pestering Wild while he tried to cook. So it was just the two of them up in one of the rooms they’d rented out.

Legend leaned against the door frame and watched Hyrule sort through their remaining potions.

“How does the doll really work?”

Hyrule spun around faster than he could blink. The sheer panic on his face spoke volumes. “Legend if you’re thinking about your daughter—” The kid covered his own mouth with both of his hands. It was odd to see him minding what he said. But then again, this wasn’t a case of him blaming himself for something that wasn’t his fault. It  _ was _ his fault, but that was beside the point.

Legend’s heart clenched and he could still see that scene in his mind but he shoved it down as best he could. He wasn’t going to lose it every time someone mentioned her. He was stronger than this. He was…

He ran a hand over his tired face. A mess was what he was. But he had to focus. Focus on Hyrule. “That’s not what I—look, just tell me how they work.”

Relief shone in his green eyes briefly as he let his arms fall to his sides. Hyrule turned around again to focus on his task, but Legend could tell he was just shuffling the bottles around with no rhyme or reason now. “Exactly as I said it did, they heal me.”

“Cut the bullshit,” Legend said. “ _ Restoration magic _ ?”

“Legend.” There was a tone of warning in Hyrule’s voice. Low and close to being a growl. It was clear he wanted Legend to stop pushing, but that wasn’t going to happen. He needed to know. He needed to hear for himself that his theory was wrong.

“Hyrule.” Legend spoke his name dryly. He wasn’t going to leave until he got an answer. Correction: he wasn’t going to leave until he got the answer he was looking for. Hyrule must have known that because all signs of aggression left his tense back and his shoulders drooped.

The kid tilted his head back and let out a sigh. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

_ The truth maybe? _ He  _ had  _ to know. He was going to say revival magic. Revival. As in back from the dead. Hyrule was slow to turn around and face him but the look in his eyes was all the confirmation he needed.

Legend felt his knees weaken and alongside the memory of Melody disappearing an awful image appeared in his mind. Hyrule on the ground surrounded by monsters and blood. Hyrule drowning at the bottom of a lake. Hyrule losing his footing and falling off a cliff.

He put his hand on his forehead and cleared his throat. “Right, then let me rephrase my question. How many times have you had to use them?” Truthfully he didn’t  _ want  _ to know the answer to that, but he  _ needed  _ to know. Just once or twice would still be too much for his mind and heart to bear.

“I—” Hyrule looked to the side with his forehead scrunched up like he was trying to count. The longer he stayed quiet the harder Legend’s heart started beating.

“If you can’t give me a number, that’s way too many, ‘Rule.”

“Why does the number matter? I’m here aren’t I?” The kid snapped, still refusing to make eye contact.

“Yes but what if for some reason it doesn’t work? What if you don’t have any left? What then?”

If he wasn’t so upset with him, Legend would have been impressed that Hyrule had the guts to look him in the eye and say, “Then I die.”

“ _ Hyrule _ ,” Legend stressed with a glare, one Hyrule returned tenfold.

“ _ Legend _ .”

The two of them stood at a standstill for a few tense moments. Unfortunately for Legend, silence right now was absolutely deafening.

“How can you talk about dying so freely like that?”

Legend had never seen anger burn brighter in anyone’s eyes until he looked into Hyrule’s. The kid crossed the distance between them in three steps and gripped the front of his tunic. For a moment there, he really thought Hyrule was going to hit him. He’d brought his arm back with a fist so tight his hand was shaking. Legend braced himself for the blow, but it never came.

Conflict mixed with the anger in Hyrule’s eyes. He lowered his fist and pushed Legend hard into the door frame. It hit his right shoulder and it was all he could to not yell in pain.

Hyrule’s voice shook like he was trying so hard not to start screaming. “After that stupid stunt you pulled back in Four’s nightmare? You are the  _ last _ person who’s allowed to lecture me about life and death.”

Legend opened his mouth to retaliate, to tell Hyrule that he wasn’t thinking straight at the time, but he beat him to it. His voice got louder and louder as he went off on Legend.

He would rather have taken the punch to the jaw. It would have hurt way less.

“You lost your daughter! I know. It’s awful and sucky and is the  _ last _ thing a parent should have to go through but why couldn’t you mourn her in a normal way?” Hyrule’s voice cracked at the word ‘normal’ and Legend could do nothing but watch as tears filled his successor’s eyes.

“Every other time we lost her you went numb! Didn’t talk, sleep, or eat. Just like you’ve been doing this past month!” Legend blinked. Had it really been a month for them? Stuck on repeat, reliving the same three days over and over again.

“But you…you just  _ walked _ right into the middle of the battle with no regard for your own safety! You fought like a dead man walking and not like those Redeads from Lorule! I’ve never seen anyone fight so sloppily in all my life!” Panic seeped into Hyrule’s voice.

“But you pushed your body past its limits! Tearing through monsters nonstop! It was like you couldn’t hear us no matter how loud we screamed at you. Your eyes were  _ blank _ , Legend! You have absolutely no idea how  _ terrifying _ it was!” Tears were streaming down his face and his eyes…the absolute hurt in Hyrule’s eyes made Legend want to hide. He wanted to go back to his room with his hands over his ears as the clock tower chimed and chimed again and again.

Because it was his fault. The Nightmares. Losing Melody. Scaring and hurting Hyrule.

Because he didn’t want to look at his mistakes. He didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that he screwed up so badly. If only he could just run away. Just leave this room and hide and curl up with his eyes shut tightly. The same way he hid in caves soaked from rain when he was a kid running from the soldiers.

Because hiding was the only thing he was good at. Hiding and running away like the cowardly rabbit he was.

“Look I—”

Hyrule shook his head firmly. “No. No, you don’t get to lecture me. I don’t want to hear flimsy excuses. If I die, I die. But I’ll go down fighting. You…you weren’t fighting.  _ You gave up _ !” He didn’t even give Legend the chance to respond before shoving past him and storming out the door.

There was a tension in the air when they all had gathered for dinner. Hyrule had made a point to sit as far away from Legend as possible and that did not go unnoticed by the others. Any attempt at making conversation felt forced and awkward. Hyrule would respond to the others like normal with a smile and what looked like a gentle demeanor from the outside. But he held onto his utensils tightly and that fake smile never reached his eyes.

Over dinner, they discussed their next course of action in tracking down the Shadow Nightmare so they could escape from that place. They weren’t going to blindly stumble through the woods like deer waiting to be attacked this time.

Time looked out the window again at the falling moon. He told them he had a pretty good idea where the Shadow Nightmare was. Legend seriously hoped Wind’s comment about Time fighting the moon was a joke now because with how much contempt there was in Time’s eye, he wasn’t so sure.

The next morning, well, the morning of the start of the three-day cycle, they planned on heading out. The chiming of the clock tower echoed in his head, but he couldn’t curl up and cover his ears no matter how much he wanted to. If the others thought he wasn’t okay enough to continue on, they might postpone it for another few cycles, not knowing that the ringing of the clock tower was what was making it worse.

Hyrule was still avoiding him. He practically clung to Wild up at the front of the group while Legend stayed in his spot at the back. He tried not to feel hurt about it, but it was impossible not to. It was his own fault that Hyrule was mad but he had no words with which to offer him an apology.

It wasn’t until they were about to set out when Warriors looked at Four. “Where’s…?”

Four—who was looking considerably better than he had the day before—looked at Legend nervously before answering the Captain. “You can call him Shadow and he’s here,” he pointed down at his feet where his actual shadow was. “He…it just wouldn’t be good for him to be out right now.”

Legend noticed a small wet spot on Four’s shoulder, but that could have been anything.

He was relieved he wouldn’t have to travel with the shadow. Just the thought of seeing him was enough to almost make him forget his guilt towards Hyrule and he scowled at the cobblestone road beneath his feet.

Just because Legend helped save the guy’s life didn’t mean he wanted to befriend him. He had been the one carrying Melody when the Shadow Nightmare appeared. He had just as much of the blame as Legend put on himself. He’d held his daughter, carried her for who knows how long. The thought of something made of darkness touching her made his blood  _ boil _ .

Yes, he helped save the shadow’s life, but he was  _ never  _ going to forgive him.

They headed out into the woods in search of…well, Time didn’t exactly fill them in on the specifics. Or any other details for that matter.

“Where are we?” Warriors asked. “I know you said this was Clock Town but…this isn’t Hyrule, is it?”

Time was quiet for a while. Legend couldn’t decide if he actually didn’t hear the question or if he was just ignoring the other hero. Eventually the old man let out a long, tired sigh.

“This place is called Termina. It exists parallel to Hyrule.”

“Like Lorule,” he couldn’t help himself from saying. Everything was the same in his Hyrule, just a bit different.

If Lorule had reminded Time of this place, it now made sense how uncomfortable he was there.

“This is where your second adventure took place,” Twilight guessed. This time, the old man didn’t even bother giving a reply and instead kept going. His silence was answer enough.

They walked on as normal, as they did countless times before. Hiking along the trail, scattered conversations between his friends rang through the air. It was like nothing had happened. Like they hadn’t been stuck repeating the same three days for weeks because of him.

Hyrule wasn’t walking with him. He wouldn’t even look at Legend because of what he did. Instead, he laughed along with Wild up near Time and Twilight and that somehow made him feel a thousand times worse.

The spot on his right shoulder that had hit the door frame throbbed but he kept his mouth shut.

_ You gave up. _

Did the others think that of him as well? Were they just as scared for him as Hyrule had been? Were they just as angry with him? He couldn’t even remember what happened.

A bright white light. Melody was gone and there was little to no point in telling himself to stop dwelling on it because it was his fault and he deserved to feel this pain. To feel this guilt.

_ You gave up. _

He hung towards the back of the group, hugging his arms around himself with his eyes on the ground in front of him, missing Hyrule’s presence. But he needed to get used to it, he told himself, get used to being alone again because once this was all over, that’s what he would be.  _ Alone _ .

A bright white light.

Wind was the first one brave enough to bring the subject back up.

“So, where are we going, anyway?”

Time ducked under a fairly low-lying branch. “Going off of our previous experiences, another… Nightmare as you called them, caught us off guard and tried to tear us apart before we could even face the Shadow Nightmare. I’m not going to let this one sneak up on us, nor do I want to face both at the same time. So we take the Nightmare out first.”

They were getting closer to the edge of the woods and he noticed Time’s shoulders were tense. “There are only a handful of places I can think of that it’ll be. The first being just on the other side of the woods.”

Sure enough, through the trees Legend could see a very familiar ranch coming into view. The name of the ranch was spelled out in big letters on the archway entrance. It explained the sour mood Time was in. If the old man was right about where the Nightmare was hiding around…he thought back to Sky’s nightmare where he’d been forced to hold a blade against his Zelda.

Time’s eye twitched and his frown deepened. “This is supposed to be Romani Ranch.” It wasn’t going to be exactly like Termina, he wanted to tell Time. This was a dream, not a parallel world. Things weren’t going to make sense or happen in a logical order.

Maybe they’d been in this nightmare for too long or his sanity was making his perception of reality skewed, but he couldn’t tell if the Nightmare’s magic was affecting Time. He understood why the others wanted to be proactive in the fight against the Nightmares, but seeking them out was ultimately going to land them in the same spot if they attacked them by ambush.

They were still very vulnerable to the Nightmare’s magic no matter how prepared they tried to be.

They entered the imitation of Time’s home. Carrying a basket of eggs out of the barn was Time’s wife, looking no different from the last time they saw her in the waking world.

It happened to him again. Emotions he’s tried so hard to keep down for a while now crept up his throat. Maybe it was because they hadn’t seen Malon in awhile, but the image of her bright red hair did something painful to his heart. The way she hummed with her head in the clouds felt like a dagger stabbing into his chest a thousand times over.

His thoughts were instantly filled with memories of Marin. Memories that had once been sweet but now were as bitter as unripe fruit. Every morning before Melody was born, he would escort her to the market before going off in search of dungeons. An evening they spent, chasing fireflies until they were chastised for being too noisy. A moonless night down at the beach and she…he pressed his fingers against the side of his head. This wasn’t the time to daydream. He needed to focus.

“Malon!” Wild called out, startling her to the point where a few eggs flew out of the basket she jumped so hard. If Legend had been paying closer attention, that should have tipped him off that something wasn’t right. Wild was always one of the first who fell victim to the Nightmare’s magic.

“Oh!” Malon placed a hand over her heart. “You scared me.” She ran a hand over her apron to smooth her skirt and pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes.

“What can I do for you boys? If you’re looking to buy some milk we have—”

“Malon,” Time cut her off in an almost disappointed tone. To which she narrowed her eyes at him and placed a hand on her hip. She huffed at being interrupted.

“Yes, that’s my name.” She looked over at Twilight. “Is your friend alright?”

Twilight looked over at Time who didn’t give him the chance to respond.

“Vet.” Legend’s head snapped up. His voice was strong and steady, but there was still something off about his tone. Legend’s mind was still half occupied by thoughts of Koholint that he couldn’t get to go away so he missed the way Time’s shoulders tensed up and the shaking in his hands. “Is she a Nightmare?”

What?

It took Legend a moment to process what the old man had said, his head was still swimming and their voices started to sound further and further away.

“I…” Was this seriously his plan? Walk up to every citizen in this dream and ask Legend if they were the Nightmare they were looking for or not? It wasn’t like he was a walking magic detector!

Malon dropped the basket of eggs to bitterly point her finger at Time. Her face as red as her hair.

Now, Legend’s only experience with women was Marin and he liked to think he knew Marin very well. There was one thing he knew about Marin that he learned very early on. Hands on hips and eyes blazing with fire meant he had a five-second head start and he needed to start running.

In his defense, he hadn’t meant to fall asleep and make her wait for him at the beach for hours. It was shady and cool underneath that tree and the second he laid down he was out like a light.

He shook his head. That was beside the point.

This woman wasn’t Marin and he wasn’t the one who needed to start running.

“ _ Who are you calling a nightmare _ ?”

Time had his gaze locked on the horizon above Malon’s head. Again, if Legend had been paying attention he would have seen the way his jaw clenched.

“Yes or no, Legend.” Time’s voice was strained—he  _ did  _ catch that. Legend’s head felt even fuzzier. Why couldn’t he focus?

Tears sliding down Marin’s cheeks.

A bright white light.

Melody was gone.

Legend gripped his bangs, the heel of his hand pressed firmly against his forehead in an attempt to get his thoughts in order. “I don’t know.”

He had to squeeze his eyes shut but it only made the images worse.

Melody. Consoling her cries. Carrying her back to Hyrule.

A bright white light.

Singing her to sleep at night. Her heart melting smile.

His Melody _. Melody. Melody. Melody. Melody. Melody. Melody. _

The Captain’s voice sounded far away—at least he thought it was him speaking. “You’ve been able to tell every time before.” It had to have been him, no one else would talk to him with that much condescension in his voice.

“Because…” Why weren’t they asking Hyrule? The kid was more perceptive of magic than he was. “Because they use magic to make you guys go crazy and…”

_ Magic! _

His eyes snapped open. It was like someone activated a fire rod in a dark cave. Magic. It was subtle and soft and never felt threatening. It touched at his subconscious, smoothly coiling around his mind. No wonder he never noticed it until then. He had been lured in with gentle thoughts and it terrified him more than the previous Nightmare’s magic.

He tried to shout out a warning but no sound came out. An invisible hand wrapped around him and covered his mouth.

The fake Malon made eye contact with him for the briefest of seconds and he could have sworn he saw real fire flicker in her eyes.

A shrill voice hissed in his ear not unlike a snake that had wrapped around his body, trapping him. No matter how hard he struggled he couldn’t break free.

_ Shhhhhhh. Little hero. _

He could imagine a forked tongue flicking his ear as it hissed.

_ You’ll ruin the shhhhow. _

He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, all he could do is watch with wide eyes as the Nightmare drew Time further into her spell.

“Look, if you’re not here to buy milk, then you need to leave.” The fake Malon picked up a nearby pitchfork and pointed it at Time’s throat and Time hesitated.

No. No. No. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Time was one of the strong ones. The magic wasn’t supposed to affect him like it did the others. He just needed to fight it.  _ Fight it, Time! _

“Malon, please.” Time finally looked down at her and Legend knew it was all over from there.

“I don’t know who you are!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, whispers erupted all around them like invisible people were walking through them.

_ “Who are you?” _

_ “Never heard of a Hero of Time.” _

The image of Lon Lon Ranch twisted and stretched until it morphed into something unrecognizable. Streams of ghost-like people walked through them and the snake hissed in laughter in his ear.

They whispered and chattered in distorted voices. Broken laughter came from nowhere and suddenly, it was everywhere.

_ “Just another nameless orphan living on the streets.” _

Legend tried to break free, but the more he struggled, the tighter the magic crushed him. He cast his eyes around, but the others were still standing there like they couldn’t see or hear what was going on around them.

Twilight had his hands out, trying to calm down the Nightmare that was posing as Malon. Even Hyrule never turned his head to see Time slowly start to back away. He had both eyes open and if the Nightmare hadn’t had such a tight grasp on him, he would have stumbled backwards.

_ “I’ve never seen you before.” _

The fear on the old man’s face would have startled him anyway, but when Time spun around, Legend could see his right eye fully. It was white. Pure white without an iris or pupil. Coupled with the odd tattoos marked on his face, there was something off about it. Something that made his rabbit-like instincts want to run and hide.

The day they first met at his front door, there was something about Time that unsettled him, and that must have been it. Only magic could do that to an eye, and with the ominous feeling he was getting from it, Legend hated to know what did that to him.

_ “You must be new to the area.” _

_ “Who is the Hero of Time?” _

The Nightmare released Legend the same moment Malon melted and reformed into a small girl dressed in a similar fashion he’s seen his sister in. A princess. Was that Time’s Zelda?

The ranch was gone and in its place stood Hyrule castle. It was the same as the one in his time. Of course it was, why wouldn’t it be? They were in a garden surrounded by flowers.

He couldn’t help but turn his head to the right where he knew the nursery was as the Nightmare continued to pull out memory after memory.

A bolt of lightning. Shattered glass. Impa had been injured. Did he even check if she was okay? Blood and death surrounded him, but he hadn’t paid much attention to anything other than the shadow holding his crying daughter.

Melody disappearing into the portal with the shadow.

Melody in the arms of a goddess, reflected in a mirror from a world away.

A bright white light. Melody was  _ gone _ .

A bright white light.

A bright white light.

A bright white—

“ _ Ng _ !” He cried out in pain as he bit his hand hard enough to draw blood. It was enough to snap him out of whatever trance the Nightmare had tried to put him in and made the others suddenly aware of their surroundings.

What was happening? This was Time’s nightmare, so why was Legend being targeted as well?

“Legend? What—?” Sky started, but they were all suddenly pushed back by that same invisible force that had held onto him originally—leaving Time standing in front of the little girl. Legend tried standing, but the Nightmare’s magic held strongly. It was like facing the Shadow Nightmare in Sky’s nightmare—when they were all forced to stand back and watch as it hurt Sky.

Time drew his sword halfway then stopped. His arm was shaking. 

The Nightmare gasped, bringing its hand up to its mouth in shock. It would have been a convincing performance if they hadn’t already known she was fake.

“How did you get past the guards?”

Time was hesitating and it made sense to Legend why. He cursed the Nightmare even more for it. Time wasn’t going to hurt a child, especially not while it looked like his princess.

He  _ knew _ looking for the Nightmare was a bad idea. The end result was going to be the same either way. At the end of the day, nightmares were still nightmares no matter how much you wished for them to be dreams.

“Time, this isn’t real!” Legend shouted. He had no idea if Time could hear him or not because for a few moments, he hadn’t reacted at all.

Time’s hand still shook as he gripped the hilt of his blade.

“ _I_ _know_ ,” he stressed but it hadn’t sounded very convincing. “This isn’t real.”

But he remained still. If anything, Legend could have sworn Time had started to sheath his sword, not draw it.

By Hylia, that  _ was _ what he was doing. The others joined in with Legend, yelling and screaming at Time, but it was like he couldn’t hear them at all. Legend froze.

_ “It was like you couldn’t hear us no matter how loud we screamed at you. Your eyes were blank, Legend! You have absolutely no idea how terrifying it was!” _

Well, he had a fair idea now.

Time released the hilt and lowered his head. The Nightmare smiled grotesquely, it looked so out of place on the little girl’s pretty face. It was triumphant. Vainglorious. The girl was several feet shorter than Time but, at that moment, it was as if she towered over him.

“This is all in the past,” Time muttered and Legend wanted to cheer. He wasn’t fully gone. Legend didn’t have to stand by and watch his friend get killed due to his own mistakes.

The Nightmare stopped gloating and scowled. It melted once again and reappeared behind Time. This time as a teenage boy wearing the mark of the Sheikah. The Nightmare had moved so fast Legend’s eyes could barely keep up. It drew a short blade aimed to land a killing blow.

He hadn’t even seen Time move, but there he stood with his sword locked in place against the Nightmare’s. Time pushed and the Nightmare stumbled backwards. It was quick to stand, but Time had been even quicker and pressed the tip of his sword to the Nightmare’s throat.

“The past doesn’t haunt me anymore.” There was anger in Time’s eye.

The Nightmare clicked its tongue—annoyed it couldn’t toy with Time’s feelings anymore—and suddenly the pressure was lifted from Legend. It was drawing all of its power back to it.

Legend drew his sword and prepared himself for battle. The other Nightmares brought monsters with it to keep them busy while they messed with their target, but nothing appeared.

The Nightmare straightened. “Yes, but what about your future?”

The Sheikah boy’s form started to deform and grow. Rusted armor replaced cloth. He aged and aged until a large Stalfos stood before them with a single glowing red eye.

It was similar to the armor Time wore and the one dim eye was the one he was blind in.

Legend’s heart skipped a beat. A Stalfos. Was that going to be Time’s fate?

The Nightmare laughed in a deep, echoing voice. “A life of regre—!” Twilight had rushed up behind it and swung his sword with all his might, cutting the Nightmare in two, not giving it the opportunity to finish its words.

Twilight wiped his sword clean as best he could before turning his gaze up at the falling moon in irritation.

“Now, you said you had an idea where the Shadow Nightmare might be. Let’s get this over and done with.”

Legend had no idea why Twilight was suddenly in such a mood. He had barely known anything was wrong until the Nightmare finally released its illusion.

Not that he disagreed with Twilight, the sooner they got out of there the better.

Twilight started to head back to the town ahead of them, while Time stood still staring down at the disappearing Nightmare. Once it was dead, it had reverted back to its original shapeless form of darkness. Time had turned away from them, so Legend couldn’t tell what kind of face he was making.

A part of him wished he was able to look inside Time’s head to know what he was thinking but, judging from the world his nightmare was based around, he wasn’t too sure he could handle seeing what Time had seen.

During the walk, Legend couldn’t help but feel a little jumpy. He was unsettled by the fight with the Nightmare. Sure, he was glad that they made it out with no injuries and it wasn’t as drawn out as the others. But, then again, they made it out with no injuries and the fight wasn’t drawn out like the others.

Wind slowed his pace to match his and Sky’s.

“Anyone else feel like that was too easy or is it just me?” He whispered behind his hand to the two of them.

“Never complain about an easy victory, Sailor.” Wind jumped when Twilight spoke from the front. Legend was about to question how he’d heard them all the way in the back, but then he remembered his secret. Must be nice having a wolf’s sense of hearing.

Legend scowled. “Keep this up and everyone will start to put two and two together. Is that what you want?” He muttered under his breath once Wind and Sky were distracted. Legend felt satisfied by the way Twilight flinched.

The walk back to town was taking longer than it did to get to the ranch in the first place. They didn’t start panicking until the forest around them started changing. A light fog rose up off the ground and covered their legs.

Time ordered them all to stop but honestly? Legend was more afraid of stopping then he was going further into the woods. He’s been in a place like this once, when he was a kid looking for the Master Sword. There was danger in a foggy wood like that.

They all instinctively stepped closer to each other.

“This…are we in the lost woods?” Wild asked.

Time shook his head. “The lost woods should be in Hyrule.”

Legend bit his lip to hold back a sigh. How many nightmares were they going to have to go through before these people started to understand that this was a dream and not reality? “I thought we were over this. This is  _ a dream _ , Time.”

The old man clenched his teeth. “I know. Logically, I know that.” But a part of him still refused to believe it. His second adventure took place in that world. That creepy, stressful world that balanced on the edge of an apocalypse. There must have been a time when he questioned how real it all had been.

They heard the rustling of the bushes first.

It came with no other warning but that.

Before they knew what was happening, a long white arm shot out of the woods and wrapped its fingers around Twilight’s neck and shoulders. The only thing Legend could process right away was the fact that he’d never seen him look so terrified before.

Time yelled and charged towards it with his sword drawn, but was never able to reach Twilight as another hand grabbed ahold of his leg, preventing him from moving any further. He called out Twilight’s name in desperation just before he was dragged into the woods—disappearing completely from their sight.

Time and Sky and Warriors hacked away at the hand but it refused to let go for the longest time. Twilight was long gone before they managed to free the old man.

Wild had taken two steps toward the direction Twilight had disappeared from but Hyrule caught him. He wrapped his arms around him to prevent him from running off.

“Let me go!”

Hyrule held fast. “We need to stick together! Twilight can handle himself but if you get lost trying to find him, then what?”

He was glad Hyrule had stopped him, but Legend himself had been five seconds away from running after Twilight as well.

An eerie sound echoed around them, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. It was a sound he’d heard before. The moaning of a dying man.

It groaned in pain and anger. Tormented gasping and a scratching sound followed shortly after. The sound got louder and louder, Legend wasn’t able to tell what direction it came from. As soon as the growling began, Time pushed them all behind him with his sword drawn.

“What is it?” Warriors asked, but Time didn’t need to answer. Leaves rustled all around them and massive white masses emerged from the fog. Legend’s heart nearly stopped.

And he thought the Redeads were bad.

These creatures moved like something gelatinous. He wasn’t sure how their long, thin necks were able to hold up their giant heads, but when they snapped them down, he wished they would have kept them up.

They were all teeth with two beady black eyes that bore right into his soul. Six monsters had come from the woods and surrounded them. Even if they wanted to go chasing after Twilight, there was no way they could now.

Time yelled at them to not let their guard down just before a few dozen of those long white hands burst out from the ground. It was the craziest fight Legend had ever been in, and that was saying a lot.

Not only did they have to avoid getting grabbed by the many hands, but they also had to deal with the big biting monsters. At least  _ those  _ were relatively slow moving.

At one point, two hands had gotten a hold of him and lifted him up off the ground. One of the monsters changed direction and headed straight for him. Legend struggled against the hands, but they held onto his arms tightly. He couldn’t use his sword to defend himself.

Desperately, he cast his gaze around the battlefield. The others were either locked in battles of their own or were also trying to free themselves from the white hands. His heart raced in his chest but he forced himself to stay calm. Think of a plan.

The monster got even closer when the idea came to him. There was a 50-50 chance this could work. Well, more like a ten percent chance, but he was trying to think positively for once.

He waited until the monster got within biting distance and prayed to Farore alone that it would work. Hyrule yelled his name from across the clearing. Legend ignored him. The monster opened its wide mouth and prepared to strike when he activated his Pegasus boots in midair. They propelled his legs forward faster than he’d expected, but he was able to land an extremely hard kick to the monster’s jaw.

Legend fell back down—not expecting his feet to touch down on the ground alongside the two severed hands that had grabbed him. His head snapped up just in time to watch a sharp metal boomerang land securely in Wild’s hand. He nodded in gratitude and was about to return to the battle when one of the monsters’ mouths snapped down on Wild’s shoulder from behind. The champion cried out in pain, and Legend froze.

Sky managed to slice the monster’s head off, but the damage had already been done. Blood poured out of the wound

A second one reached its head out to attack Wild from behind and Legend activated his Pegasus boots subconsciously, tackling Wild to the ground and narrowly avoiding the bite.

The monster changed directions and quickly set its sights on Four—whose back was turned as he battled another one of them. All Legend could do was shout in warning, but it came too late.

Four turned just as the monster went to bite him. A black mass sprung up from the ground beneath Four’s feet as his…as  _ Shadow  _ formed to push him out of the way. It hadn’t been enough because as one bit down on Shadow’s arm, the one Four had been fighting took the opportunity to attack while he wasn’t paying attention.

It was like there was no end to this. There were hands everywhere—they would cut one down and more would just pop up to take its place.

It wasn’t long before Legend was caught again but by many more hands—keeping him from moving at all.

How many more of these things were left? Did they even manage to kill any more than the one Sky had? It was hard to tell with the forest of hands weaving around them.

The noise was getting to him; the groaning and grunting from the monsters. The sound of swords ripping through flesh. The disjointed cries of pain coming from his friends.

Wild’s tunic was stained red from the wound on his shoulder, although he was still fighting as if he wasn’t injured at all. Amidst all the chaos, there was no time for someone to yell at him.

There was more grunting and groaning behind him and he stiffened up. A monster was coming closer to him but he couldn’t move. He had no way of defending himself this time. Legend closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact, except nothing happened.

The sound of a monster being cut to bits rang out behind him, he soon felt the hands’ grip on him lessen as he was cut free. His savior offered his hand to help Legend back up. He went to take it and paused.

The hand hadn’t belonged to Four like he’d originally thought, but to Shadow instead.

Legend slapped Shadow’s hand away. He managed to get up himself before running back into the battle—intending to go and help Wild as much as he could before the kid passed out due to blood loss.

The battle dragged on for much longer than any of them would have liked. But once Time killed the last monster, all the hands disappeared with it. Legend had never felt more relieved to be finished with a battle than at that moment. Even if that relief was short-lived.

Wild groaned and pitched forward into Legend. He was shaking and his face was ghostly pale. Legend yelled for the others’ help, demanding any potion at all.

Hyrule raced over to tip a bottle of red potion into Wild’s mouth. Color was very slow to return to Wild’s face. Legend was considering telling him to take another potion, but Wild pushed himself back up to his feet, promising them he was okay.

It was a lie, of course. Legend didn’t think for a second that any one of them bought it, but they had more pressing matters to deal with.

Twilight was still missing.

Legend hated to think of where that hand had dragged him to. It couldn’t be good if the sheer panic on Time’s face was anything to go by.

The old man never sheathed his sword and instead started to head again in the direction where Twilight was taken. “You boys stay here.  _ I mean it _ !” He ordered. “Do  _ not _ venture any further into the woods without me.  _ Am I understood _ ?”

Warriors stomped up to block Time’s path. “No. You are  _ not _ understood. If you go, we go with you.” Legend felt himself nodding along with the other’s verbal agreements of the Captain’s statement.

“Stand down. It isn’t safe for any of you in here. I never should have let you come along in the first place.”

Sky came up to stand by Warrior’s side with a hard look in his eyes as Time attempted to step around the two.

Hyrule balled up his fists and Legend was now suddenly worried for Time’s safety.

“No!” The kid yelled, drawing the old man’s attention. “We need to stick together. If we split up, we’ll be playing  _ right  _ into the Nightmares’ plan!”

Both of Time’s eyes were open and wild and full of so much fear that Legend had to question whether or not this was the same person he knew. “ _You_ _don’t understand_! You can’t get lost in these woods! If you’re lost…” Time’s voice trailed off clutching his head. His voice was full of desperation. Legend took a step back subconsciously.

Time was unraveling quickly. How had he not noticed it until now? A feeling of dread washed over him as he looked away from the oldest of them. Had the nightmare been affecting him the  _ whole time they’d been trapped there _ ? Did he let Time suffer for weeks on end as dark magic slowly ate away at his will while he holed himself away, drowning in a sea of guilt and sorrow?

Time was one of the stronger ones. He  _ should not have _ fallen prey to the Nightmare as easily as he did.

_ Goddesses above. This is all my fault. _

Legend stumbled backwards—looking down at his hands that were stained red with Wild’s blood—and the memory of the dream he had back in Lorule resurfaced. Blood had coated his arms. He had choked on it. Blood of the people of Koholint. Blood of the people he couldn’t save.

Blood of the people who were injured because of him.

He wiped at his hands but just like in the dream, the blood wouldn’t come off. He tore through his bag for his waterskin. It was a waste of drinking water but he  _ had _ to get the blood off him. His hands were shaking so badly he couldn’t get the cap off.

Someone knelt in front of him and gently took the waterskin from his hands. He tried to reach for it, but the person—Wind as it turned out—grabbed his wrists to stop him. Wind took the cap off and helped him clean the blood off of his hands. It didn’t wash it all away, but his hands weren’t stained red anymore.

No. That was a lie. Wind may have helped him wash the blood away from his hands, but the stain was still there, permanently tattooed beneath his skin.

Time was still arguing with Hyrule as Legend stood to take the waterskin back from Wind. He couldn’t look at the kid. He didn’t want to see blame in his big brown eyes.

Legend heard a giggle from behind him and he wanted to scream. Did  _ everything  _ need to attack them all at once? Why couldn’t they ever get a break enough to rest or heal?

Something touched his hip and he panicked. He spun around to see a small creature holding Melody’s wooden toy bird, laughing. He stopped breathing for a moment and all he could see was red.

That was Melody’s. It was the only thing he had left of her. If he lost it…

“Skull kid?” Time inhaled sharply, but Legend wasn’t paying attention to anything other than the thief standing in front of him.

“Give that back!” He pointed his sword at him, but Skull Kid merely laughed ran off into the woods.

All rationality was gone, and Legend’s tired legs moved before he could even think about what he was doing. He had to get it back. It was Melody’s and he needed it back more than anything.

“Legend wait!” Someone yelled, but he was past the point of listening.

The fog got worse the more he ran. He tripped and stumbled too many times to count, but he never stopped chasing Skull Kid. He was always just a few feet ahead of Legend, laughing as if this were some sort of  _ game _ .

He ran and ran until his legs ached and his lungs begged for air. Skull Kid finally stopped in the middle of a clearing. Legend was so worn out that he fell to his knees gasping for breath just short of him.

Skull Kid giggled again, tossing Melody’s toy up in the air.

“That doesn’t belong to you!” His anger brought tears to his eyes. It was Melody’s. When Twilight had picked it up in his house, Legend about had a heart attack seeing him touch it. Watching a stranger treat it that way hurt so unbelievably bad.

“Hmm?” Skull Kid tilted his head to the side. “It seems it doesn’t quite belong to you either.”

If only Skull Kid had come a few feet closer he would have skewered it to reclaim the toy. “Give it back or else—!”

He giggled again. How old was this guy anyway? He was short and his voice was high-pitched like a child’s. Legend didn’t see any weapons on him, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have something hidden away.

This kid was just a thief—a bad one at that. Why wasn’t he running off? Was he staying here to gloat?

“Or else what,  _ hero boy _ ? What could you possibly do to me while you’re in such a state?”

Legend flinched. He was right. His whole body was exhausted and he couldn’t move. What was he thinking? What if Skull Kid had led him to a camp full of more monsters? What could he have done while as worn out as he had made himself?

He felt himself swaying a bit. He rolled from his knees to lie down on his back. Skull Kid wasn’t going to hurt him. If that was his plan, he would have done so already. He turned his head to glare at him but with how tired he felt, he didn’t think it was very intimidating.

“Just give it back.” He winced at how broken his voice sounded. He was begging now but he couldn’t lose that last thing he had of her. That would only prove to him even more that she had been nothing more than a dream. “It isn’t valuable or anything.”

“It’s valuable to you.”

“It…” Emotion clogged up his throat. Tears started to form in his eyes again but he didn’t have the energy to wipe them away. This was the first time he tried speaking about her since he lost her and he was afraid that once he said it out loud, there would be no going back. She really  _ would  _ be gone. “That… that was my daughter’s.”

“Was?”

Legend squeezed his eyes shut.

A bright white light and—

He jolted when Skull Kid started shouting. “No. No. No. Shoo! Get back you!” He was waving his hands around Legend’s head.

Legend blinked up at Skull Kid and its wide brown eyes—not unlike Melody’s had been. “I—who are you talking to?”

“Your bad thoughts. I’m shooing them away,” he said matter-of-factly.

Legend opened and closed his mouth a few times at a loss for words. Was this kid being serious?

“You know it doesn’t work like that, right?”

Skull Kid hummed and titled his head again. “Says who?”

Legend brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Moving his arm that much caused his muscles to scream at him. “It just doesn’t.”

“I think you’re wrong. I did shoo them away.” Skull Kid sat down cross-legged next to him.

He tried sitting up. What a bad idea  _ that  _ was. It felt like fire was being poured over him so he remained on his back. Hyrule’s earlier comment about how he’d pushed his body past its limits echoed in his head and he closed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re not thinking of the bad thoughts anymore. Are you?”

He opened his mouth to retort, but the kid was right. He had been so caught up in arguing with him that it had distracted him long enough to get his mind off his daughter. “That— _ that doesn’t prove anything _ !”

The Skull kid giggled and giggled like Legend had told the funniest joke in the world—well, he’d done that once before but hadn’t even gotten a smile out of the kid back in Labrynna. Once his laughter settled down Legend tried asking for Melody’s toy back once again.

“Why did you even take it in the first place?”

The Skull kid leaned forward to rest his head in one of his hands while he twirled Melody’s toy around in the other.

“Maybe I wanted to play a game?”

Legend pushed through the pain to sit up. Somehow, he managed to do so. His breath and heart rate were both finally evening out, but it would be a while before his legs were rested enough so he could stand again.

“What game?” He raised his eyebrow at him tiredly. He didn’t have the energy to play any games. Just sitting up was difficult enough.

“A game of trading.”

Legend scoffed and glared at the kid again. “You’re not even real, this is a dream. What could you  _ possibly _ want from me?” Skull Kid’s words surprised him. He was expecting something material, or to be sent off on a side quest like so many people have done to him before.

“A promise,” he said.

“What?”

Skull Kid gazed down sadly at Melody’s toy in his hands. “Link. He’s my friend. I didn’t have too many of those, once, and I did something very bad and ended up hurting Link. But he forgave me. He even wanted to be my friend. Which is why I’ll give this back only if you promise me.”

Honestly, a large part of Legend’s mind was preoccupied with the words ‘I’ll give it back to you’ but he forced himself to focus. A promise to a dream? How badly could it affect him?

_ “The Windfish will grant my wish. You and Melody and Tarin…he will not take my family away from me!” _

He’d promised Marin.

_ “Then all of this will be over?” _

_ “No more adventures.” _

Legend covered his face with his hand. A promise to a dream was one he was incapable of keeping, no matter how hard he tried. He asked anyway, knowing his words would be empty.

“Promise you what?”

“Promise me that you’ll protect him?”

Legend snapped his head up. There was no sign of joking or laughter in Skull Kid’s eyes. He was being serious, and his tone of voice made it sound like he was begging Legend.

Protect Time?

Why would something created by a nightmare ask him to do the opposite of what the Nightmare and the shadow intended?

Wait.

Back when they were in Sky’s time that red—what had Sky called it again? Loftwing. The red Loftwing had acted like it knew Sky even though everyone they met claimed they didn’t.

Admittedly, they hadn’t encountered many people—or really any people at all in Four’s nightmare, apart from the village of invisible Minish—but Legend had to wonder if they had remembered Four as the Loftwing had remembered Sky. He recalled the way Wind looked as if he were apologizing to the Minish as they dragged Four from the village.

And now, looking at Skull Kid’s eyes, the thought echoed in his mind. Did he know Time like that? Legend was afraid to think of what that could mean, so he shoved the thought as far away from him as possible.

“Protect him from what?” He asked.

Skull Kid never blinked, but his eyes looked so sincere. “From himself.”

Legend half limped, half traipsed through the woods—following Skull Kid’s directions on how to get out. He only hoped the others hadn’t tried to chase after him when he ran off. He hated to think of the possibility of them being lost in the woods, searching for both him  _ and  _ Twilight.

Twilight.

He prayed again to Farore that he was okay, that he managed to break free from the hand that had pulled him into the woods.

Guilt started to eat away at him again, adding on to all that he felt earlier.

He was beginning to feel relieved when he noticed the trees thinning out as he came upon a clearing. It wasn’t a way out of the forest, but there was no fog here and he could see clearly where he was stepping.

It was a place where he could rest until his strength returned enough that he could go searching again for his friends. But as soon as he entered the clearing, he knew there would be no time to rest.

In the middle of the clearing, a little boy in green sat on a tree stump with his head in his hands like he was crying. Legend ran over to make sure he wasn’t hurt—knowing full well there was a fifty percent chance this was a trap. Crying kid in the middle of a creepy forest? Probably some kind of monster. But, hearing the boy sniffle, his heart had clenched and his parental instinct kicked in.

The closer he got to the boy, the weirder he felt. When he was only a few feet away, he tripped over his own two feet and landed hard on the ground. Tears welled up in his eyes and his bottom lip started to quiver.

Wait.  _ Why _ ? All he did was trip and that was  _ nothing to cry about _ !

He pushed himself up and froze. Were his hands smaller? And his arms? And legs?

In a panic, Legend patted himself and looked over his whole body. He was shorter,  _ much shorter _ than he had been a second ago. Scars that should have been there weren’t. The pain in his right shoulder was gone completely and so was his fatigue. In fact…he didn’t feel pain  _ anywhere _ —there was  _ always  _ something that hurt.

Was he… _ a child again _ ?

But  _ how _ ? He hadn’t done anything or eaten anything strange. 

He shivered and felt the cold rush of dark magic pouring over him. It was a Nightmare’s magic. Goddesses be damned. There was a  _ second  _ Nightmare? Legend’s heartbeat quickened.

How did everything go so wrong so quickly? There had only been one Nightmare working with a Shadow Nightmare in both Sky and Four’s nightmares. They hadn’t even  _ considered  _ the possibility of a second one lying around.

Not that they had the time to stop and think about anything in the past few hours. What with the monster attack, Twilight being taken, and him running off into the woods alone.

A pit opened in his gut. Twilight was still missing, he didn’t have time to worry about a kid crying in the middle of the woods. Besides, this was a dream, it wasn’t like he was real anyway.

He looked down at his small hands again.

His clothing had changed from his red tunic to one he hasn’t seen in years. One his uncle made him when he turned ten. The green tunic he wore when he went searching for his uncle in the castle. The green tunic he wore when the rain relentlessly tried to drown him as he hid from soldiers.

He was a kid again, or at least had the appearance of one.

This shouldn’t be possible. He’s read through dozens of books on magic and there was  _ nothing  _ in any of them that allowed someone to reverse the aging process.

No, wait. There was one.

Books and stories about the hero that came before him were few and far between. The Fallen Hero. Legend—the story kind of legend—spoke of the hero moving through time itself. They said he could become as old and strong as a knight, but then become young and small to fit in small places.

Some hero he was, though. Even with his ability to grow old and young he still fell to Ganon and set Hyrule on the path of misery and strife.

Legend hated him, but there were more important things he needed to worry about. 

He was a child again—even though it shouldn’t be possible. There was either a second Nightmare roaming around, or the Shadow Nightmare got tired of waiting and came to seek them out. Twilight was missing.  _ Everyone _ was missing.

This was bad. Worse than bad. It was…it was…it was just _very_ _bad_.

The boy in green sniffed and distracted Legend from his rising panic. “Why are you crying?” He winced at how childish and high-pitched his voice sounded. But not only that. He hadn’t meant to say that. Sure he was thinking it, but it wasn’t what he was supposed to say to a crying child. He was supposed to say ‘are you okay?’ it was kinder and gentler. Was his brain starting to get affected by the magic too? That was a scary thought.

“I’m lost,” the boy whimpered. “I don’t know where I am. I can’t find Navi. She would  _ never  _ leave me alone.  _ Why can’t I find her _ ?”

_ Navi? Who’s Navi? _

Legend approached the boy with less caution than he had meant to, and put his small hand on his shoulder. When the boy looked up with tears in his blue eyes, Legend inhaled sharply. Bright blue eyes. So young. So innocent. Eyes that he’s only ever seen one of. An eye too old for the hero it belonged to.

_ This was Time _ .

_ Oh, Hylia. What do I do? _

Fear clawed at his throat. Just how powerful was this Nightmare to not only force Time under its control completely, but changing their forms until they looked and felt like children again? 

He gripped Time’s shoulders and spoke as urgently as he could.

“Time? Time you have to snap out of it. This is just a dream, remember?”

Time’s cloudy eyes were full of confusion as if he couldn’t understand the words Legend was saying. “A…dream?”

“Yes! A nightmare. And you need to wake up.”

Time shook his head and pushed Legend’s arm away. “But I need to find Navi first. I can’t  _ leave  _ her.”

Legend pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Why does he even bother trying anymore? Talking to any of them while under the Nightmare’s influence, was like talking to a brick wall. He racked his brain for any information the old man had shared about his adventures, but Legend had been so caught up with finding Melody that he hadn’t paid close enough attention.

He paused—expecting an onslaught of emotions to hit him after thinking of his daughter, but it didn’t come and that scared him. His heart still ached but…they were so close last time in Lorule. Weren’t they? She was in the Dark World on the other side of the mirror but he couldn’t get to her in time. And then these nightmares started happening…they were…they were going to find Melody after defeating the Nightmares. Right?

He shook his head. Right now, he needed to focus on Time.

_ Think, Link, think! _

“Oh,” he breathed when the idea came to him. Oh, he was an idiot, why didn’t he think of it sooner?

“Um, Time? Or, uh, Link? I’m sure… Navi will come back.” Whoever she was. Time’s never mentioned a Navi before but, then again, they never did get around to spilling their secrets. “If you want, I can wait with you until she does.”

It was odd seeing Time act so young, and he really shouldn’t be playing along with the fact that Time thought this was real, but he was having a hard time coming up with a reasonable explanation to tell Time that he was dreaming and this Navi person wasn’t coming back.

Time nodded hesitantly. Legend sat down next to him on the stump and started rummaging through his bag for his ocarina.

The Ballad of the Windfish never brought Legend out of the dream but he was just a bystander in someone else’s dream. It might not be enough to fully release them from the nightmares—since he only had an ocarina—but it should be enough to snap Time out of it.

“Is that an ocarina?” Childish curiosity was a look that he never in a million years would have expected to see on Time’s face. He wiped away the tears from his eyes and looked at him in excitement. “My friend Saria has one just like it. Are you going to play a song?”

“Yeah,” Legend said. His hands gripped the ocarina loosely. It was bigger than he remembered it being.

He hadn’t played this song since the day Melody was taken from him in the palace, all those weeks ago. He cleared his throat. Once this was all over, they were going to find Melody. They  _ were going to find her _ . “It’s a song my…someone very special to me taught me. It’s called the Ballad of the Windfish.”

Time tilted his head to the side in an oddly cute way that didn’t fit the image of the Time he knew  _ at all _ . “I’ve never heard of it.”

“Most people haven’t.”

Legend brought the ocarina up to his mouth and started playing gently. It was different than the last time he played it. In the palace he rushed it—never skipping a note but they slurred together at times. Going on and off-key. Squeaky or airy notes echoed off the shattered marble floor of the nursery. 

Marin had been right. When he first got to the island, he was really horrible at playing the ocarina but over the year he spent with her, she taught him how to play it well.

Now his notes were slower, staying at a consistent tempo. They flowed together like the ocean rolling up to cover their feet as they danced under the moonlight. Instead of crashing and violent like the waves that tore apart his ship.

Partway through, Time slumped forward with his head in his hands. Legend really hoped that was a sign that it was working and he wasn’t just making things worse.

Once the final note finished ringing through the air, Time shot up and backed away from the stump full of confusion. He examined himself, just as Legend had, and spun around trying to get his bearings. He brought his hand up to his right eye like he couldn’t believe he could see out of it.

“What happened? Where—?” His eyes got even wider when they fell on Legend. “Vet? Is that you?”

“Unfortunately.” Legend tossed his ocarina back into his bag. He leaned forward to rest his elbow on his knee and his head in his hand. “Damn. I really thought that would turn us back into adults too.” Wishful thinking on his part. When did he ever get what he wanted?

“Where are the others?” Time’s eyes widened even further. “Twilight! He’s still out there somewhere, we need to go find him!”

Legend didn’t move from his seat on the tree stump, but he did sit up to raise his eyebrow at Time.

“Oh yeah? And how much use do you think you’ll be out there when you’re only two feet tall?”

Time’s face grew a cherry red color. “I am  _ not _ two feet tall! We can’t just sit here and do nothing, not when everyone is missing. After you ran off we all got separated… I think.” He held his head in his hand like it hurt. “My…my memory is a little off.”

Legend sighed and leaned back on his hands as he stared blankly at the too-blue sky. “I think… I think maybe we  _ should _ wait here.” Time started to protest, but Legend cut him off. “We don’t even know where to start looking. This forest is huge and, going by dream logic, could possibly be never ending. We stand a greater chance of them finding us here then we do going back in there blind.”

“You can’t know for sure that they’ll even come here!”

Legend lowered his head so he could look at Time. “ _ I _ found this place, didn’t I?” Honestly speaking, he’d bet anything the skull kid had known exactly where Time was and pointed him in the right direction to find him.

There was conflict all over Time’s face as he bit his lip. For a second there, Legend really thought he was going to sprint off into the woods. Time sighed, and sat down on the grass hugging his knees close to his chest.

An awkward silence followed until Time looked over at him. “Legend,” he started, looking very uncomfortable. He nodded his head towards him hesitantly. There was something off about him, like there was guilt and sadness in Time’s eyes. “If you don’t mind me asking…?”

It took Legend a few seconds to realize what he was asking, and it wasn’t until after he gave his reply that he knew he should have lied. “Ten, or probably eleven, I’m not sure. I think I spent my birthday hiding from Eyegores in a dungeon somewhere.” Time must not have been good at hiding his expressions as a kid because it was the sheer horror in his eyes that made Legend want to take back his words.

It was an awful thing to consider, how young they were when they first took up a sword. He saw a flash of it when Four mentioned he was young on his first adventure. Did Time feel responsible for their lost childhoods?

“What about you?” A part of him knew he should have changed the subject, but it was like his curiosity was overflowing and he couldn’t stop himself.

Time picked at his green tunic. “Technically, I was nine when I first set out.”

Technically?

The memory of his mental breakdown during their stay at Lon Lon Ranch flashed in his mind.

“Oh, right,” he wanted to hit himself in the head. How had he forgotten that so easily? “The Master Sword sealed you away.” When Time looked at him with his forehead creased he felt the need to clarify. “Tarin told me, sorry.”

Time didn’t look mad that he knew but he tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Tarin?”

Legend’s eyes widened. What was wrong with him? Why was he just saying everything that came to mind without a filter? He knew he would slip and refer to Talon in his mind as Tarin but he always double-checked to make sure he said it correctly out loud.

“Talon, I mean.”

Time was quiet for a while before joining Legend back on the tree stump. Both of them were now too short for their feet to touch the ground. Something petty inside him hoped that the others were little now too so that he wasn’t stuck as the only one like this.

He was so lost in his thoughts, swinging his feet a little that he forgot Time and him were having an actual conversation, and jumped when he spoke again.

“Melody’s mother, Marin. Her father’s name was Tarin. Wasn’t it?”

Legend turned his head to look at the trees in front of him. He had to bite his lip in order to keep the tears at bay. Was he really this much of a crybaby at ten or eleven? Luckily he was saved from having the conversation by trees rustling to the left.

Hyrule came tumbling out of the woods not much older or taller than himself, he immediately felt awful for wishing his friends had to go through this too. He didn’t  _ actually  _ want it to happen!

Hyrule saw Time and him and ran straight for them. His outfit changed a bit. It looked similar to the one he’d been wearing before, but it was longer on him, or maybe a few sizes too big. And seeing the kid wearing a cap was such an odd sight it almost made Legend laugh despite the situation.

“Ah! Legend! I tried following you, but I got lost—which isn’t a surprise I know—but that doesn’t matter. You’re safe. I was…” Hyrule trailed off, his cheeks bright red and he looked down at his boots.

“Worried?” Legend joked but there was an overwhelming feeling of guilt clawing at his throat when he looked at Hyrule. But…why?

They had a fight but…about what? It wasn’t that long ago and he already forgot?

_ “It must not have been that important if you’ve already forgotten about it.” _ His uncle once told him after he got into an argument with one of the other kids from the town.

It must not have been that bad of a fight if he couldn’t remember what it was about so he shrugged it off.

“No!” Hyrule exclaimed before looking sheepish and pouted. “Well, maybe. A little.”

Time got up from his seat on the tree stump and put his hand on Hyrule’s shoulder. “Have you seen any of the others?”

Hyrule shook his head. “No I… _ Time _ ?” He did a double take as if just now realizing the situation they were in.

“Wait.” He looked down at himself and pulled his hat off to examine it. “Wait. What’s going on?”

“Actually…” Legend cleared his throat and hesitated. He wasn’t even sure it  _ was  _ a second Nightmare. Maybe it was just a part of the dream? He tried to gather the words to explain his thoughts, but his tongue was a little twisted and he couldn’t think straight enough to get his point across.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, more of their companions found them so he could hold off on his explanation for a while longer.

Twilight and Sky came from the forest behind them and Legend went limp from relief that the other hero was okay.

Or mostly okay?

Both him and Sky looked relatively the same, albeit a few years younger—dressed in hero’s green—but still clearly in their teens. Legend was so confused. Why were  _ they  _ still older? Shouldn’t they have been aged down to children too? 

At the very least, Twilight didn’t look injured. That was good. Legend appreciated worrying for nothing. Time must have felt the same way because he jumped up from his spot on the stump—looking like he was going to start crying again.

When they got closer, he noticed Twilight carrying a much smaller Four on his back. There was a huge smile on the ranch hand’s face and it threw Legend off a bit. Twilight had never looked so carefree in the time he knew him, he also lacked the tattoos around his eyes and on his forehead. Sky looked more or less the same but less stressed, maybe?

“You can stop laughing now, Twi. This isn’t funny,” Four said, his voice higher pitched than Legend’s. When Twilight put him down Legend blinked hard. Four was even shorter than him. His cheeks were round too, emphasizing his youth.

Time let out a strangled kind of sound and he took a step back. A mix of fear and fury was reflected in his eyes. “Four…” The young— _ younger _ hero looked up at Time. “How old are you?”

Four crossed his arms and turned away from them, his cheeks bright red. “I’m not answering that.”

Twilight let out another laugh. “You can ask all you want—he keeps refusing to tell us.”

Legend wasn’t sure if they misunderstood the reason Time asked the question or if they were ignoring it.

Both Twilight and Sky were clearly amused by the whole situation, when it was a lot more serious than they were thinking. “Legend, Hyrule… Time? Did you get hit by whatever did this to Four?” Twilight chuckled again, ruffling Hyrule’s hair.

Legend gave the Hero of Twilight a blank stare. Did he not realize it had affected him too?

It wasn’t until the rest of their party found them that Twilight sobered up and realized this wasn’t all just a joke.

Warriors, Wild, and Wind all didn’t look but a few years younger than they were an hour ago when they’d gotten separated. Why was this spell affecting some of them stronger than others?

“Cub?” Twilight looked at Wild with his eyebrows scrunched together. Their cook was rubbing the side of his face where extensive burn scars used to be. His bite wound was completely healed as well and there was no sign of blood.

Wild didn’t appear to have regressed in age at all, other than shrinking a few inches, but it was like he was the most changed out of all of them.

His normally messy long hair was cut back significantly shorter, but it was his eyes that caught Legend off guard. They looked so haunted and out of focus. Nothing of the champion’s carefree demeanor seemed to be present within him at all.

Warriors put his hand on Wild’s shoulder lightly. “He’s been having flashbacks all over the place. I’d give him some time, Twi.” Twilight didn’t stop looking worried but he didn’t push it. It was then that the Captain noticed the others, he must not have thought to look down.

He took a step back and looked between the now youngest members of their party.

“We were only gone an hour! What happened to you guys?” Wind exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air only to pause halfway through the action. He looked at his arms in confusion, but Legend couldn’t figure out why until he started tugging on his light green sleeves. Wind did the exact same thing they had done when they first realized they’d been turned into children, and sputtered.

“I locked this stupid thing away in a box in my grandma’s house  _ ages ago _ !”

“Legend,” Warriors stressed using his Captain’s voice, but it didn’t completely mask his fear. “What the  _ hell  _ is going on?”

Why was he asking  _ him _ ? They all looked to him like he should know the answer. His heart raced in his chest. He wanted them to stop looking at him like that. He  _ didn’t know _ . This wasn’t supposed to happen!

He had trouble looking the Captain in the face. All he saw was the soldier’s uniform. The crest of Hyrule glaring at him.

It…it wasn’t his fault.  _ It wasn’t _ . But they were going to blame him, weren’t they? That’s what always happened on his adventures. He was always the one they blamed.

_ No. No, Link you’re being an idiot. Stop thinking like a kid. I’m an adult. I’m nineteen not eleven. _

“I… I have no idea.”

After the initial shock had worn off, they ended up figuring out they all were exactly how old they were when they first started out.

Hyrule had been no older than him when he also had a sword shoved into his hands, and they finally managed to get Four to tell them exactly how old he was. The number made Legend’s head spin. But the others…

Legend looked up at Twilight, Sky, Wild, and Warriors. A feeling he was once very familiar with seeped into his heart.

Jealousy.

They were taller and stronger than him. They’d had training with swords for years and didn’t have one thrust into their shaking hands on a stormy night. People must have believed  _ them  _ when they spoke of their adventures, especially Twilight.

He was still as strong as ever and had naturally taken up Time’s leadership position alongside the Captain. He was able to hold his head high with confidence. He truly was the embodiment of the Triforce of Courage. But that all made sense.

Twilight was a wolf.

Legend was only a rabbit. A cowardly one at that.

For a brief moment, Legend had a panicked thought that their transformation was going to be permanent. His heart nearly gave out. This couldn’t be permanent. He had a daughter, his baby that still needed rescuing. How could an eleven-year-old take care of a child?

Time wasn’t doing too well either. He still looked so heartbroken at how young he, Hyrule, and Four were when they first started out. But it wasn’t like it was his fault or anything. The only one who had part in Legend’s fate was that failure of a hero that had come before him.

The Fallen Hero. Legend scowled at the ground beneath him. That hero had died young while fighting Ganon. Time was much older than a child and very much alive so he had nothing to feel bad about. And Legend would have told him that if it didn’t involve explaining the details of his adventures.

The others didn’t need to know how scared he’d been. They didn’t need to know his true form.

The longer they trekked through Time’s Nightmare, the more scared Legend was starting to become. He could feel his mind regressing like his body had and he was forgetting more and more important things.

What color were Melody’s eyes?

Who was that merchant in the purple rabbit hood?

There was a girl with red hair and a hibiscus tucked behind her ear. She had a name.  _ What was her name _ ?

He really started to panic when he looked over at the boy with brown hair who was holding tight onto his hand. Who was he? And there were others, too. Older boys and some even younger than him. What was going on? Where was he? Who were these people, and where were they taking him?

Then he saw the knight.

Link stopped dead in his tracks, forcing the brown-haired boy to stop as well.

“Legend?” The boy asked him, but he was confused. What legend? Didn’t the kid know this was no time for stories? They had to get out of here while the knight wasn’t paying attention.

A quick glance at his surroundings told him very little. He didn’t recognize the forest they were in. To his left, though, there was a thick cluster of bushes that they might be able to fit through. The knight wouldn’t be able to follow them through there. He only wished he could have gotten the other boys’ attention as well, but he didn’t want to alert the knight.

Link put a finger up to his mouth, telling the boy to keep quiet and he tugged on his hand, pulling him towards the bushes.

“Legend, where are you going?” The boy asked very loudly and alerting the older boys. When the knight turned around, Link’s heart started beating harder in his chest.

No. No, he had to get away. They were going to take him back to the castle, weren’t they? If they took him back to the castle, they were going to kill him. They were going to kill him for kidnapping the princess, _ but he hadn’t _ . He couldn’t let them take him.  _ He didn’t want to die _ .

How had they even captured him in the first place?  _ Why couldn’t he remember _ ?

Wait.  _ Why _ had they captured him instead of killing him outright? His hands weren’t even bound but the boy with the brown hair held on so tightly to his hand that he couldn’t run. And the other boys…they were all dressed in green just like him.

Did the knight think they were him? Did he round up all the boys around his age that fit his description? If that was true, what were they going to do with the boys after they find out who he really was? Would they let them go?

He forcibly ripped his hand out of the brown-haired boy’s and started to back up. The knight had his hand on his hip, but Link was sure there was another weapon hidden on his belt and he wouldn’t hesitate to draw it. The other kids weren’t close enough to the knight where he could grab them and hold them hostage if he didn’t cooperate but, then again, Link wasn’t sure about the other older boys. They wore chainmail and were as heavily armed as the knight. Were they also knights?

“What’s going on back there?” The knight snapped, irritation radiating off of him. Link flinched and took another step back. He felt the weight of his sword on his back, why hadn’t the knight disarmed him? He knew he wouldn’t be able to take on all the adults at once but he could still take a few of them down.

Link looked at the other kids again and then back up at the knight. “Let them go.”

The knight and one of the other older boys exchanged confused glances.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m the one you’re looking for, so let them go!” The knight started to walk closer to him so he backed up with his hand on his sword. “I’m the one you’re looking for but you’re not taking me to the castle. If you want me you’ll have to kill me. But you’ll have to catch me first.” Link turned and bolted off into the woods.

He had no idea where he was or where he was going but, at the moment, he didn’t care. They shouted and chased him, but he’d had a lot of experience running from knights. He had no idea how they captured him in the first place, but they weren’t going to do it again.

Link managed to lose them for a short period of time—long enough for him to find a decent sized clump of shrubs that would be able to hide him. This wasn’t the first time he’s had to hide in bushes from knights. He knew how still he needed to stay, how to keep his breathing low and even.

The knight and the others caught up to him, yelling the word ‘legend’ over and over again. Even the other kids were searching which confused him. Were they also working with the knight? Was there  _ anyone _ left in Hyrule who didn’t think he was a criminal?

Link held his breath when the knight stopped in front of his bush.

“Maybe we should split up,” the knight said.

The youngest kid scoffed as he walked past Link’s hiding place. “Right because the last time we separated went _ so _ well.”

He thought he was safe when they started to walk away again deeper into the woods. Link was going to stay where he was until he knew they were far enough away that he could run off without them seeing. A twig snapped behind him and he stiffened.

Two strong hands wrapped around his upper body and lifted him out of his bush. He kicked and thrashed, but the guy didn’t let him go.

“No!  _ No _ !” Link cried out. It was one of the older boys who held him up off the ground, holding him tightly against his chest, so Link couldn’t even draw his sword.

“Stop struggling will ya? We’re not going to hurt you, you  _ know  _ that!”

The knight and the others doubled back at the sound of the boy’s voice and Link started to struggle even more.

“Twi found him!” The brown-haired traitor yelled with actual glee in his eyes. The lies of the adults had corrupted the kids. He had no allies left in this world.

The knight stomped up to him, glaring. “What the hell were you thinking? Running off like that?”

Link knew he wouldn’t be able to break free, so he did something stupid instead: he spat in the knight’s face fully expecting to be backhanded. The knight reeled back wiping his face clean with a look of disgust.

“I never kidnapped the princess! You all are being lied to! If you kill me or take me to the castle, you’ll be responsible for the destruction of Hyrule!”

One of the kids in green approached them, his face was ghostly pale and his bright blue eyes were wide in horror. “Vet…were the knights of Hyrule  _ hunting  _ you?”

Link stopped struggling long enough to look at the kid like he was crazy. What was going on here? Why was the kid talking in the past tense when one of those knights was right in front of him?

“What’s wrong with him?” Another kid who didn’t look much older than him spoke with a hint of an accent. “It’s like he doesn’t remember us. Isn’t this  _ Time’s _ nightmare?”

The knight said a word his uncle would have washed his mouth out with soap if he ever said it. “The Nightmares are getting smarter. Legend is the only one of us who was practically immune to their magic.”

Link had no idea what they were talking about. What nightmares? What magic? Why were they calling him Legend? Did they actually not know who he was?

The blue-eyed kid had covered his face with his hand. “Before everyone found us, my mind was under their control, but Legend broke the spell.” He did? He didn’t remember doing that and he for sure didn’t have the ability to break magic spells.

There were others who didn’t believe the kid either.

“He can do that?” The youngest one asked skeptically and the blue-eyed boy nodded his head. Link still couldn’t see his face but he also couldn’t forget the look in his eyes.

“It was a song but I…it’s all so fuzzy. I can’t remember it.”

The knight huffed and ran a hand through his hair. He turned to Link and gave him a grumpy look. “If Twilight lets you go, are you going to run again?”

“Are you going to kill me if I try running?” Link glared up at the knight who reeled back at his words.

“Kill— _ no _ !” Why was he bothering to lie to him? Link had seen the wanted posters with his face plastered all over Hyrule. He’d had to fight off countless other knights before. They all sneered at him, calling him a criminal. Calling him a traitor to the crown. They called him words that his uncle would be disappointed in him if he ever repeated.

One of the older boys put his hand on the knight’s shoulder. “Maybe you should let us handle this, okay?” The knight looked like he wanted to argue but backed off regardless.

The other boy had a kinder face than the others, which made Link feel even more uneasy. How much of that kindness was a lie? He nodded his head to the boy holding him up and Link was put back on the ground.

He was surrounded on all sides. Even if he tried running they would catch up to him like they did the last time. How had they even known where he was hiding?

The boy with the fake kind eyes knelt down to be eye-level with Link.

“Link?” So they  _ did _ know who he was. Then why were they all calling him Legend? “Do you remember any of us?”

Link shook his head.

“Can you tell us what you  _ do _ remember?”

He paused for a moment. Were they treating him like he lost his memory? That didn’t make any sense. How could he have lost his memory, and why would he even travel with other people? He was one of the least liked people in all of Hyrule.

But, he found himself telling them about Agahnim. How he managed to convince everyone that he kidnapped the princess and that if they saw him that they needed to call for the soldiers.

“But I  _ didn’t kidnap her _ . I don’t get why no one will believe me.” Link’s bottom lip wobbled and he was afraid he was going to start crying in front of all these strangers.

“We know you didn’t,” the one who had found him said gently.

Link sniffed and rubbed his nose. He didn’t believe it for a second. They were all trying so hard now to get him to trust them. “Why do you believe me?”

The kid with the accent and light green sleeves put his hand over his heart. “We’re your friends. Of course we’re going to believe you.” Well now he knew  _ for sure _ they were lying.

He tried to take a step back but the boy who had picked him up like he weighed no more than a kitten was still standing behind him, preventing him from running. So he settled on giving them all a harsh glare—something he was getting good at. “I don’t  _ have _ any friends.”

The boy with the bright blue eyes started to look even more upset at his words. They told him this crazy story of how they’ve known him and have traveled together for weeks now. Apparently, they were chasing some shadow thing and were currently stuck in some dream world where they had to face their nightmares head on.

It was ridiculous, but he couldn’t figure out why he was filled with anger whenever they mentioned the shadow.

“I’m eleven. Not nineteen. I’m not a hero like you say I am. I’m just a nobody from nowhere who got wrapped up in this mess. Why do you keep pretending like you know me? If this is a ploy to get me to trust you and then take me back to the castle, then I’d rather you kill me right here.”

“Don’t say that! Don’t… _ don’t talk about dying so freely like that _ !” Link flinched when the brown-haired boy—whose name was apparently Link as well but they referred to him as Hyrule—shouted. His heart hurt at his words but he didn’t understand why.

“ _ I don’t know you people _ ,” he stressed. Why didn’t they understand?

Time—the bright blue-eyed boy—stepped forward. He looked so incredibly sad that Link was starting to question what he knew. What if…what if they  _ were  _ telling the truth? But that would mean he lost eight years’ worth of memories. The thought of that terrified him.

“You spent your birthday in a dungeon hiding from Eyegores.” Link froze. He turned eleven not that long ago and he spent hours hiding in an alcove from a persistent Eyegore. “How else would I have known that unless you told me?”

Link put his hand on his forehead. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make any memory of these people surface. “But I don’t remember.”

“Time,” the only boy in blue—Wild, they called him—said in a quiet, shaky voice. His eyes were scary and Link felt the rabbit part of him shy away from the boy. “You said he used a song to break the spell. Is there anything about it that you remember? A few notes? It might be able to trigger a memory.”

Time shook his head.

“Are there any songs you know that could help and that Legend might also know?” Sky, the one with the kind face that Link didn’t trust, asked.

Time looked up over Link’s head at the older boy standing behind him, Twilight, hesitantly. “The Song of Healing. I can try it, but there’s no way he would know it.”

“What about that one he played in the forest before the Wizzrobes attacked?” The one with the slight accent, Wind, suggested while the little one, Four nodded along. “And again when we fought the Eyegore? Didn’t he say it had the power to wake both the sleeping and the dead?”

Sky looked at Link hopefully. “You wouldn’t happen to know the song we’re talking about, do you?”

Link shrugged. “I’ve never played an instrument before.” He never had the interest before nor did he have the patience to sit around and learn something that wasn’t ever going to be useful to him.

That wasn’t the answer they were hoping for, and the group of ‘heroes’ deflated a little.

The knight, Warriors—apparently he was a hero, too, but the sight of his armor and the crest of Hyrule still made him flinch—clicked his tongue and stepped forward to join the others again. “So now what? We’ve lost our Nightmare expert. Half of our party is now younger than Wind. And we’re lost in this maze of a forest—if it even has an end to it.”

They all looked at each other with hopeless expressions.

“We’ll just have to keep going and hope that once we find and defeat the Nightmare responsible for this, everything will go back to normal,” Twilight said before guiding them back to what may have been a trail.

“Is it alright if we call you Legend still?” Wild asked in his quiet voice as they walked.

He wanted to say no. There was something about the name that rubbed him the wrong way, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. Although, he found himself nodding anyway. It was still better than the names the knights and the townspeople called him.

“I’ve been called worse things before.” He’d meant it as an off-handed comment but hadn’t expected the way Time flinched at his words. What was up with that kid? It was like everything Link—Legend now—said made him feel sad and angry about something.

But it wasn’t like he could ask anyone. He still didn’t trust they were telling him the truth and his hand twitched, ready to grab his sword at the first sign that they were going to betray him.

Hyrule still walked beside him like he had been when Legend first noticed something was wrong, but he didn’t hold his hand this time. If Legend needed to run he didn’t want the kid stopping him. Then again, they refused to let him walk in the back of the group and was shoved in the middle with the other kids and Twilight took up the rear.

It made him feel uneasy, but at least the knight was walking up front where he could keep an eye on him. If the knight really  _ was  _ planning on killing him he’d rather see it coming then get stabbed in the back.

Hyrule made a noise of surprise and tugged on Legend’s sleeve.

“Do you mind if I grab something out of your bag real quick?” On instinct, he turned to keep his bag away from the boy, but there was something about his big green eyes that made Legend want to trust him even though he was the one who alerted the knight in the first place. Legend nodded hesitantly and handed his bag over to him.

“Here.” After a few moments of digging Hyrule handed a round instrument to him that he had no idea how it got into his bag in the first place. An ocarina. It was a pale orange, almost white, color made of something smooth. He ran his fingers over the holes.

“I don’t know how to play this thing.”

“Just hold onto it for now. Maybe it’ll trigger a memory of the song you used to break the spell on Time.”

They walked on, but Legend was mesmerized by the clay instrument in his hands. His fingers itched like he wanted to play something, but his mind was drawing a blank as to how it was played.

_ Our memories, for real, fade us by. _

Legend tripped slightly over a rock and decided he needed to pay more attention to where he was walking. He pressed his fingers against the side of his head when it started to hurt.

“Legend?”

There was a girl. A girl with red hair and a song but he couldn’t get his mind to piece together the whole memory. His heart  _ ached _ , though. It hurt the way it did when his uncle had died. Why was he mourning this girl?

“It’s nothing.”

Surprisingly, the knight had been right about one thing. The forest they were in seemed like it had no end to it at all. It was like they were in an endless loop, walking past the same trees every few minutes or so.

Over the hours they spent hiking through the never ending forest, Legend tried so hard to remember all the things he forgot but nothing was coming back to him. Not since he heard the girl’s voice singing when he held the ocarina.

The other heroes—he’d admit he was getting more comfortable around them, and so long as he didn’t need to be near the knight he was fine—tried to help him get his memory back, especially Wild.

Apparently, he’d gone through the same thing once. He told Legend that pictures and visiting certain places had helped him start to get his memory back and now he was remembering things a whole lot more. The guy didn’t look too happy about it though.

Wild brought out an odd-looking device he called a Sheikah Slate. He said it was capable of holding things like pictures. He tapped the slate a few times before handing it to Legend. An image had appeared.

The people in the picture looked like the ones he was traveling with but older. They were in a forest setting up camp it seemed.

Hyrule was trying to start a fire while a few others brought over more wood and kindling.

He recognized Wind and the little hero Four. Twilight was there talking with the knight. His eyes fell on a figure who sat next to Hyrule, poking at the small flames. Legend frowned at the picture.

The boy was much older than Legend was now and wore a red tunic. His eyes were sad even though there was a smile on his face. Was this how he was going to look in eight years?

“Huh?” Legend squinted at the image. Wild asked him what was wrong and he shook his head. “I dyed my hair?”

Hyrule leaned over to look at the picture and back up at Legend with a raised eyebrow. “Are you not naturally blond?”

“I am, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” He pointed to the little chunk of pink mixed in with the blond. The sight of it made him upset with his older self. Of all the other colors in the world why did he have to choose pink? “It’s pink.”

It was the color of his other form. It was a color that reminded him of his weaknesses and fears.

By dying his hair pink he was practically admitting his cowardice.

The knight let out a chuckle that made Legend jump so hard he almost dropped the slate. He handed it back to Wild so he didn’t accidentally break it.

“We found you like that, Vet. Figured it was a fad in your time and didn’t question it.”

He wished they  _ had  _ questioned it because now he was stuck wondering and…

His head started to hurt again and he heard the girl from earlier giggle. He squeezed his eyes shut, but then his mind was filled with disjointed images of a beach and red hibiscus flowers.

_ “See? Now we match,” _ he’d exclaimed proudly to the girl with the red hair.  _ “Though, it came out more pink than red.” _ He was holding a lock of his hair that he’d dyed pink on the same side that she wore her hibiscus flower.

_ Was it real, what we saw? I believe. _

His eyes flew open and he spun around wildly looking for the source of the singing. He  _ knew _ that song. It was important to him. It was… it was _ her _ song.

“Legend? What’s wrong?” Time put his hand on his shoulder, but Legend brushed it off. It was coming from deeper in the forest. He took two steps off the path before Twilight grabbed the back of his tunic, preventing him from finding her. But he needed to go. He  _ needed to see her again _ . His heart was beating loudly in his ears.

“Oh, no. You are not running off again. That’s how we got stuck in this mess to begin with.”

“But I—” _ Lost in dreams, we sleep on tossing and turning. _ His throat closed up with emotions he couldn’t quite describe and he stopped fighting Twilight.

“The girl with the hibiscus flower. What was her name?” His voice was hoarse and quiet. If they really were the friends they said they were they would know. Wouldn’t they? He had to know what her name was. It was on the tip of his tongue, but there was something preventing him from remembering it. “ _ What was her name _ ?”

“Who?” Wind looked at him confused for a moment before realization dawned on him. “Oh.”

Sky knelt down in front of him again. His eyes were sad and he hesitated for the longest time before telling him. “Marin. Her name was Marin.”

“Marin.” The sound of her name felt right coming out of his mouth, but it held such a melancholy weight to it that it brought tears to his eyes.

_ “Please don’t ever forget us, Link. Please!” _

Legend couldn’t help but throw his arms around Sky. He needed something to hold onto or else he felt like he was going to break into a million pieces. There was no stopping the tears now as Sky hugged him back tightly. Legend felt guilty now about not trusting this hero because he felt so safe here like he was being hugged by his uncle again.

“I didn’t mean to forget! She didn’t want me to forget her!  _ But I didn’t mean to _ !” He hiccupped and cried into Sky’s shoulder. “I’m sorry!  _ I’m so sorry, Marin _ !”

_ Stay with me, by my side, never leave. _

He cried until he exhausted himself. When was the last time he’d let himself cry like that? It didn’t come as a surprise to him that he didn’t remember. He felt himself go limp in Sky’s arms. He didn’t have the energy left in his body to move.

Sky suggested to the others that they make camp for the night there. They all must have thought he was asleep because they whispered as they settled in. Somewhere along the way, Sky repositioned him so that he was laying down with his head in his lap. He wanted to protest, but the irritation and embarrassment he felt melted away once Sky started to run his fingers through his hair lightly.

His uncle used to do that whenever he had a bad dream and couldn’t sleep.

“Keeping secrets is only going to hurt us even more in the long run.” Legend was sure that voice belonged to the knight.

“You’re right but…” Twilight paused for an uncomfortable amount of time. “Maybe once we deal with this problem first.”

There were a few shuffling noises before it quieted down. Legend thought they’d all gone to bed, but Time broke the silence with a pained whisper.

“Did you see the way he looked at the Captain? At the rest of us? Like he expects us to turn around and run our swords through him.”

Legend started to feel guilty again but it still confused him. Why did Time feel so upset that he was afraid of the uniform the knight wore? If Time had gone through what Legend went through he would be afraid of the knight as well.

“This isn’t your fault, Time.”

“It may as well be. This is my nightmare after all.”

Four’s high-pitched voice rang out in the night. “Then, by that logic, does that make it my fault Melody disappeared?” There was quiet once again for a while.

Wind spoke sadly next. “If he reacted that badly to not being able to remember Marin. What’s going to happen when he starts to remember Melody?”

Melody? Who was Melody? Legend stiffened. He could feel more tears forming in his eyes but he didn’t know why, all he knew at that moment was that he was in a lot of pain. It felt even worse than when he heard Marin’s name. Why did those two names hurt so badly?

He must have moved because Sky’s hand stopped moving.

“Shh. You guys should get some sleep. I’ll take first watch.” There were no complaints and soon it was quiet and Sky started to run his fingers through his hair again while softly humming and before he knew it Legend was drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

Except it hadn’t been dreamless.

There was an island with white sandy beaches and coconut trees. He was older again in the dream, and he walked along the shore with no shoes on. He heard signing off in the distance, it was that same song he was remembering Marin singing.

Link took off running, but the sand made it difficult for him to move fast and his Pegasus boots were nowhere to be found. Her voice was getting louder and louder and soon he saw her.

Her bright red hair and her favorite blue dress. She looked no different from the day he lost her. He wanted to cry because when she turned around, he saw her holding their daughter Melody as she sang to her.

_ Melody. _

He tried to run faster, but the sand got tougher and tougher to run through. When he looked down, he’d already sunk down to his knees.

Link looked back up at Marin and Melody frantically. Marin was now crying and the sight broke his heart. He tried calling out for them, but his voice wasn’t working.

He was forced to stand there helplessly as the Windfish flew through their air overhead and a bright white light erupted all around him.

A bright white light.

They were gone.

Link tried to scream but he couldn’t. He continued sinking in the sand and he stopped fighting it. It wasn’t until his head went under fully that he jolted.

Or more like someone had roughly shoved him awake.

Legend blinked the sleep and remaining tears out of his eyes just in time to roll out of the way of a Stalfos’ sword aimed for his head. He was quick to draw his sword but had to do a double take. It was the Master Sword alright, but the blade was different. And his shield…what happened to his uncle’s shield?

He didn’t have the time to think about it as he blocked another attack from the very tall Stalfos. A quick look around the clearing told him they were dealing with 20 or so of these Stals and a few tall things Legend had no name for.

The others were all locked in battles of their own. The older ones didn’t seem to have much trouble at all and were tearing through the enemies like they were nothing while, for the longest time, all Legend could do was block attack after attack.

This was why he tried to avoid fighting the knights head on. His arms were shorter so he would always have to get in close if he wanted to do any damage but if he got too close they would be able to grab him.

Except this Stalfos wasn’t a knight.

When the Stalfos swung horizontally he ducked and rolled in between its legs and swept them out from underneath it. The Stalfos fell to the ground just as Legend popped back up to his feet and he stabbed it right through the skull. It disintegrated, but he couldn’t relish in his victory for long because another one took its place and locked swords with Legend.

The fight was going fine until the other monsters started to move.

Four had broken away from the Stalfos—either that or he was too small for them to notice him—he charged at the other monsters and Time cried out, panicked.

“Don’t attack them! They’ll just shoot fireballs at us.” The warning almost came too late as Four had to dive to get out of the way from a fireball.

“What do we do, then?” The knight snapped.

Time was having no problem at all dealing with the Stalfos despite being smaller than Legend, which Legend was starting to feel grumpy about. “You have to use fire to kill them.”

He saw something light up in Hyrule’s eyes that made him want to take a big step back.

“Wait! I know a spell! Just let me…” His small hands were set ablaze and he aimed at the monster. Legend would never forget the sounds it and the other surrounding monsters made while burning to death or the smell of burning monster flesh. It was somehow worse than when he used his fire rod.

Hyrule’s eyes grew wide in panic. Many of the monsters and Stalfos were dead, burnt to ashes, but fire was still pouring out of his hands. Did he not know how to turn it off? Maybe his body was starting to forget things like Legend’s had.

By the time he figured out how to stop the spell it was already too late. The forest behind the monsters caught fire and was spreading quickly.

“ _ Hyrule _ !” Sky scolded. Legend felt it was a little unfair that Hyrule was getting yelled at because at least now the Stalfos had nowhere to run to.

Hyrule rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks bright red but not from the effort of the spell. “Oops.”

“Oops?” Twilight yelled as killed one of the few remaining Stals. “ _ Oops _ ? You start a forest fire and all you have to say for yourself is  _ oops _ ?”

“Well it’s not like I  _ aimed  _ for the forest!”

Once all the monsters were dealt with, they hurriedly packed up their belongings before they could get consumed by the fire.

Time wasn’t as panicked as they all were. He instead brought an ocarina up to his mouth and began playing an awfully familiar song. Thunder roared overhead, and before they knew it rain started pouring down, dousing the flames.

When Time turned around again Wind sputtered. “I didn’t think you were being serious about that!” Time only offered him a small smile and went on to lead them further into the forest.

Perhaps the goddesses had decided they’d had enough because off in the distance, Legend could see an end to this forest. They were drenched but all so relieved to be out of there.

“Where to next old—uh, Time?” Twilight asked. Time looked up at the sky, so Legend followed his gaze with his own eyes and he backed up into the knight. He sidestepped away from the knight without taking his eyes off the sky. Or the falling moon to be more precise.

“If you tell me the Shadow Nightmare  _ is  _ the moon, I’m going to scream,” Wind said.

“It’s not the moon I’m worried about this time. It’s what’s inside it.” The way Time sometimes talked it sounded like he was much older than the kid Legend was looking at.

Twilight clapped him on the back and gave him a nervous smile. “Well, you defeated Ganondorf this young, I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to take whatever the Shadow Nightmare has to throw at you, especially when you’ve got us to back you up.” If that was meant to cheer Time up, it did the exact opposite.

Legend was also still confused about what they meant by Shadow Nightmare but he couldn’t find the words to ask.

Time sighed and started walking towards the town. Well, dragging his feet more like it. “If we’re being honest. I defeated Ganondorf when I was 16.”

The knight made a noise and narrowed his eyes at Time. “That’s not possible.”

“I was put to sleep for seven years.” Those words made his head hurt a little, like there was something important he was supposed to remember, but his brain was all fuzzy.

“No. Because you weren’t much older than you are now when you finished your second adventure, Time.”

Four looked up at the knight. “How do you know that?”

The knight opened his mouth to reply but looked away and grumbled. “It’s a long story.”

Words and images and thoughts flew through his mind like a tornado. Stories his uncle used to read to him. The way the people spit at the title of ‘hero’ like it was something cursed. Because it was. All because of the hero that came before him.

The conversation was still going on around him, but he was only partially listening.

“Princess Zelda sent me back in time after I defeated him.”

“But that’s not it, is it?” Sky asked.

Time looked at him, or rather the sword he had strapped to his back, in contempt.

His words were spiteful but they made Legend freeze up. “They called me the Hero of Time. When I drew the Master Sword it sentenced me to sleep for seven years, but there were places I needed to be and people I needed to confront in the past, so I was instructed to place the sword back on its pedestal. The instant I did, I was a boy again. All I needed to do was draw the blade again to bring me back to the future. I must have done it countless times. Growing older and then younger and back again.”

Legend’s heart beat loudly. 

_ A hero moving through time itself. They said he could become as old and strong as a knight but then become young and small to fit in small places. _

A hero.

The Fallen Hero.

Goddesses above, was he standing before his failure of a predecessor?

“You…” he swallowed but his mouth was so dry he had a hard time doing it. “You’re the hero that came before me.” His hands shook as he gripped his sword strap tightly and backed away. He’s the one.  _ Time _ was the one.

“He…he can’t be.” Twilight looked at Legend in concern and confusion, but Legend wasn’t paying attention.

“You’re the fallen hero.”

“Legend.” Time reached for him probably to console him but he jerked away from his touch noting the look of hurt in his eyes.

“No! Don’t touch me! You have no idea… _no idea_ what you’ve done. Ganon _won_. He won and destroyed Hyrule. My own people scorned and ridiculed me because of _your_ _failure_. All these years. All of my pain and suffering. _It’s all your fault_!” He screamed as tears once again threatened to fall.

“Wait, Legend, are you remembering something?” The knight tried to reach for him too but all he could see was that suit of armor and a hand ready to grab him.

He tripped backwards trying to get away. He fell to the ground and screamed. “ _ Don’t touch me _ !”

Sky put his hand on the knight’s arm and knelt down to his level but he didn’t even want Sky’s comfort this time he just wanted to get away.

“Legend,” Sky said softly.

Legend shook his head firmly and glared at Time. He had no idea where all of this anger was coming from but it was consuming him. “I hate you.”

Time flinched and took a step back.

Sky looked at him sadly. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do! I hate you! I hate you!  _ I hate you _ !” Tears were now falling from his eyes and his throat hurt from screaming so loudly. He was confused. He was never this angry with the Fallen Hero before. This anger was too much to be his, so why was he yelling so much?

A bright light surrounded them and he felt himself be transported away before anyone else could try and calm him down.

Once the light dissipated, they were brought to a new world. Or, at least it seemed to be a new world. It was an endless green field with a single tall tree in the center. In front of the tree sat a large dark figure. Its sword was sticking up out of the ground next to him and was the oddest looking sword he’s ever seen. Two separate blades were twisted and curved until they came together at the end to a point.

Most of the older heroes drew their blades and stood in front of them, but Time looked at the figure under the tree with an unreadable expression.

Legend hadn’t moved from his spot on the ground. His face was hot and wet from his tears. The magic flowing from the figure was dark and cold and eerily familiar. Flashes of a dark figure on an island appeared in his head.

It took the form of Agahnim and Ganon. It beat him down time and time again but he kept getting back up. But why? Why was he fighting so hard against the shadowy figure?

It was an island just like the one from his dream. The girl with the red hair was there. Marin. He loved her but…he was only eleven. What did he know about love?

Legend gripped his head with both hands as the dark figure laughed. Both Sky and Hyrule were at his side.

There were Moblins. Hoards of Moblins that threatened the island and its people.

“I don’t know why the others had such difficulty with you lot,” the figure sneered. “All they had to do was break that one link in the chain and the rest would crumble apart. And, clearly, that wasn’t such a difficult task. Now, was it? Hero of Legend?”

Voices rang in his head along with the ringing of a clock tower.

_ “Hero of Legend?” _

Clang!

_ “Criminal!” _

Clang!

_ “A bastard’s bastard. Who would want a thing like that?” _

Clang!

_ “So, you are the lad who owns the sword.” _

No.  _ No _ !

He covered his ears with his hands, but the clock was ringing over and over and over again, never stopping. He didn’t understand why it bothered him so much. Why it made him want to curl up and hide away from everyone and everything.

Then the images came.

A bright white light.

His daughter was gone.

His… _ he had a daughter _ .

And she was  _ gone _ . Oh, Hylia. He watched her disappear  _ right before his very eyes. _

Melody.

_ Melody. _

That was the other name that hurt. He had a daughter. _A_ _daughter_.

But he was only nineteen. No, he was eleven. But no, that didn’t make sense. He shouldn’t have a kid at either nineteen or eleven. The figure was messing with his mind. It was only playing tricks on him. None of it was real—it was all the work of magic.

When he looked up again, he watched Time charge at the tall figure with the weird sword. It taunted and batted him around like Time was nothing more than a ragdoll. Why wasn’t anyone helping him? Why were they all just standing around?

There was an image of being inside a volcano. Dark shadows holding him in place as Sky yelled and screamed. As he held his blade inches away from a dark figure’s face in the shape of a Hylian woman.

And then again, when they were as small as mice, shadows attacked while four different colored versions of the littlest hero cornered him and Legend had been powerless to stop it.

A bright white light.

_ No! That wasn’t real _ !

They couldn’t help Time in this fight. But Time was the Fallen Hero, did he even  _ want _ to help him after everything he did?

The dark figure smirked at Time as he pushed him down again. “Show me the power of a true villain. Show me the fear you have for this form. For  _ your _ true form.”

Time got up and wiped a bit of blood off the side of his mouth. “You’re nothing but an imitation,” he spat.

Horrible laughter came from the figure. “A half-baked monster. Why don’t you don the mask, lose the remainder of your humanity?”

Time rushed forward before the figure even finished speaking. Their swords met halfway and clashed—making an awful sound ring through the air.

Like the chiming of the clocktower. Clang. Clang. Clang. Not even his hands over his ears were enough to drown out the sound.

Sky tried talking to him, but Legend couldn’t understand the words he was saying—like it was a different language altogether. And he told him that, him and Hyrule. He told them over and over that their words didn’t make sense but really, it was  _ his  _ words that didn’t make sense to  _ them _ .

They looked at him like he was speaking gibberish and to them, he may as well have. The languages from Labrynna and Holodrum. Languages he shouldn’t know, their words were spilling out of his mouth.

_ Focus, Link. _

Memories flooded his mind all at once. It was too much for him to handle. Traveling the world. To  _ other _ worlds.

An island.

His memories always came back to that island with the white sandy beaches and coconut trees.

A girl with red hair and a melody.

Marin. Marin and Melody.

Time let out a shout of pain that snapped Legend out of his head for a moment. Through blurry eyes he watched his friend…the Fallen… _ his friend _ battle away at a…a Nightmare. That’s what they were called. Nightmares.

The Nightmare slashed at Time again, but he’d anticipated it, and rolled under the blade in a move that was so fast Legend almost didn’t see it happen. It hadn’t seen it coming either and was slow to dodge. Time sprang up behind it, delivering a nasty blow to the Nightmare’s side.

Its arrogance from earlier was nowhere to be seen as it glowered at Time, jumping back and holding its side, purple sludge oozing out of the wound.

“What’s the matter?” Time taunted back at the Nightmare with an unimpressed look on his face. “Have you lost your words? I didn’t realize I had sliced your tongue off as well.”

The Nightmare sneered. “Perhaps I misjudged your fear for this one. Your fear is not in facing it in battle. So perhaps we change things up a bit. Recast the roles.” It started to change just as the Nightmare from the island had. It still stood tall, but the armor changed and a long scarf hung around its neck and trailed behind him like a cape.

Legend flinched involuntarily.

“Like one you once looked up to as an older brother. Could you turn your blade against him?” It changed again until it took on the appearance of Twilight from the picture Wild had shown him of when they were older.

Time hadn’t moved an inch, but his face betrayed how unhappy he was.

“Or the one you’ve come to see as your own? After all, your blood flows though his veins does it not?”

Undiluted rage flared up in Time’s bright blue eyes once the Nightmare changed again, this time settling on a young girl with short hair. It was a different girl than the princess but… Legend held his head again. How did he know that?

The Nightmare smirked like he’d just won the battle. “Would you ever forgive yourself for harming this one?”

Unexpectedly, Time did not hesitate to swing his blade.

The Nightmare was caught off guard and retreated to a safe distance—reverting to its original form.

Time tilted his head to the side in a perfect image of innocence. “Hmm? Did you really think that would fool me? Just how old do you think I am?”

Their swords met once again and Legend couldn’t take this any longer. His head felt like it was going to explode.

The Nightmare managed to knock Time to the ground again but he was quick to get back up on his feet.

Time was able to land another blow in the Nightmare, causing it to fly through the air and land in a heap a great distance away. The wound must have been getting to it because, all at once, the pressure that was pushing down on Legend’s mind eased up considerably and he was able to breathe better.

It reverted back to taunting Time, even though it had to have known by now that Time wasn’t going to take the bait.

“Put on the mask,” it cried, “call on the power. You can’t escape it. It calls to you even now,  _ begging  _ to be freed.” Legend had no idea what the Nightmare was referring to.

Time rushed in again with his blade. He fought so quickly and with so much skill that it was mesmerizing to watch, but at the same time, anger started to pool in his stomach once again.

If the Fallen Hero could fight like this, then how did he manage to fall to Ganon all those years ago?

“Coward!” The Nightmare was in bad shape. “Let it finish consuming you.”

One last hit with his sword sent the Nightmare flying again. Time leapt through the air and stabbed the Nightmare through the chest while it was still down.

“It will, one day. You know it will. You will not be able to resist its power,” the Nightmare coughed. As the life drained from it, Time seemed to grow bigger and it wasn’t just Time. Legend felt himself become taller. The leftover holes in his memory filled themselves back in. Every scar, ache, and pain

“A life full of regret awaits you if you do not. Just ask the mutt,” the Nightmare spit out before it died and started to dissolve away. Time stood a full-grown adult once more and sheathed his blade. He brought his hand up to his right eye and sighed.

Legend’s hands were shaking as he looked down at them. His memory was back—now that he was no longer under the control of the Nightmare’s magic—but he still retained his memory of when he was reverted back to a child.

The things he did. The things he said.

_ “I hate you!” _

He felt like he was going to throw up and covered his mouth with his hands.

“Legend? Is your—do you have your memory back?” Wind asked tentatively. Beside him Warriors sighed.

“What do you think, Sailor?” The Captain walked over to him and offered Legend a hand to help him stand. “You don’t still think I’m going to kill you, do you?” It was meant to be a joke and Legend knew that but he couldn’t help but lower his head and hide his face in shame.

“I’m sorry,” he choked out, his throat was tight. “I’m so sorry.”

“And what, exactly, do you have to be sorry about?” It was Time who spoke, and Legend flinched and tried to shrink away from him.

_ “I do! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!” _

Time placed his hand on top of Legend’s head and he froze.

“Vet, look at me.” He didn’t want to. He didn’t want to see the anger or disappointment or the hurt he inflicted on Time. “Legend.” His voice was stern but at the same time gentle. Legend lifted his head very reluctantly.

Time wasn’t upset, but he should have been, after all the awful things Legend yelled at him. Either Time could read his mind or Legend was portraying his thoughts on his face again.

“That wasn’t you who said those words. It was the Nightmare. I don’t blame you one bit.”

“But you should.”

“But I don’t.”

Legend pushed Time’s hand away and cried out again. “This is all my fault! You  _ should _ blame me! All of you should!”

Something hit him on the back of the head hard. “Ow!” He held his head and turned to see Hyrule glaring at him. Goddesses, Hyrule. The memory of their fight came crashing back to him, but it only made Hyrule even more upset.

“Do I need to hit you again? Because  _ clearly _ I didn’t do it hard enough the first time.”

“I—”

Hyrule crouched down and poked him in the chest. “You’re an idiot is what you are, so don’t even bother trying to explain yourself. Didn’t I tell you to stop putting all the blame on your shoulders?”

He opened his mouth to retaliate but he couldn’t find the words. Looking around at his friends’ faces, none of them were mad at him even though he was so awful to them for an entire month.

For the millionth time that day, he felt tears well up in his eyes and no matter how hard he tried to keep them at bay, they spilled out anyway.

Hyrule laughed lightly as he pulled Legend into a strong hug. “You know, you’ve become a real big crybaby lately,” he teased and Legend couldn’t stop the little burst of laughter that escaped his lips.

Legend composed himself as much as he could before he accepted Warriors’ hand to pull him up. He dried his face on his sleeve and took a deep breath. He was surprised he hadn’t cried himself dry by now. At the very least he hoped he cried out the last of his guilt.

His baby was gone. And so was Marin. There was nothing he could do to change that. It still hurt. He still played the memory of her disappearance in his head on repeat but he couldn’t afford to curl in on himself right now.

They had a job to do. Once this adventure was over and he retired his sword for good, that was when he’d allow himself to mourn them. For now, however, for the sake of his companions, he needed to stay focused. He didn’t want to be responsible for any of them getting hurt again.

The portal appeared before them and no one hesitated to enter it. Legend was glad to be gone from Time’s nightmare but he dreaded what was to come in the future.

When they stepped through the portal, Twilight instantly fell to his knees and honestly? Legend had wanted to do the same. He knew they were in the kingdom of Hyrule. The castle was off in the distance. Or…what was left of it.

A silence fell over the group of heroes as they gazed at the land before them. The kingdom of Twilight’s Hyrule was absolutely decimated.

* * *

The stars hung in the sky brightly on a moonless night in the vast kingdom of Hyrule. Not that the young pirate princess knew she stood in the very Kingdom that lay at the bottom of the Great Sea. Her gaze was still locked on the goddess before her.

Tetra had no idea  _ how _ she knew this was a goddess, or even that her name was Nayru. It just appeared in her mind as if she’d always known. But the magic surrounding her felt so much like her own when she ‘awakened’ as Princess Zelda.

Nayru had stopped singing and she beckoned Tetra to come to her. She didn’t want to, but again her feet moved on their own and she approached the goddess.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Princess Zelda.”

She wanted to correct her, that that wasn’t her name no matter what kind of blood flowed through her veins. But her mouth stayed shut.

Nayru was holding something in her arms, she’d been singing to it when Tetra arrived. A bundle of white cloth. The goddess noticed where her gaze was pointed at and she smiled down at the bundle. Tetra could have sworn it moved.

“Ah, yes. There was a reason I called you here. To the land of your ancient past.” Tetra took a step back.  _ She _ was responsible for dragging her and her crew through time? For throwing her ship onto the middle of dry land?

Nayru sighed softly, but there was irritation in her eyes. Tetra was miffed that the goddess was the one who was irritated in this situation.

“My sister, Farore, has become soft over the years. She has grown quite attached to her champions, you see?” No, she did not see. What champions? What did this have to do with her or anything?

Nayru continued on as she shifted the bundle of cloth in her arms. “So attached that she has become blinded.” The bundle started to glow a faint yellow, it slowly flew out of the goddess’ arms and floated through the air towards Tetra.

When Tetra took the bundle in her arms she jolted in surprise. It wasn’t a bundle of cloth. It was a baby sleeping peacefully.

Her own anger seemed to be swept away like a tide rolling in as she looked down on the child. She was so transfixed by the little thing’s face that she couldn’t look up at Nayru as she spoke.

“My sister cannot be trusted to act rationally about this, not when it regards the child of her favored hero.” Tetra’s forehead scrunched together. The last time she saw Link and the other heroes none of them mentioned children, most of them looked too young to even  _ have _ children. “If this child should be reunited with her parent, Farore’s blessing on the child would vanish, leaving her vulnerable to the shadow’s powers. Clearly, this was the wisest option, even if she could not see it.”

Tetra was still confused. She had no idea who Farore was or why goddesses would care so much about a baby. She shifted her weight onto her other foot and gave the goddess before her a hard stare.

“Could you get to the point? It’s been a long day and my ship is in pieces because of you.”

“It could not be helped,” Nayru said offhandedly, as if she’d broken a writing quill and not destroyed her ship. That anger the baby managed to make her forget was slowly starting to build back up inside of her.

“You, my dear, were the wisest option seeing as you are not yet bogged down by monarchical duties or filial responsibilities. You are also quite the warrior from what I have witnessed. You will do well in protecting the child.”

Tetra’s head snapped up at the goddess’ words. Protect her. This baby. Was she seriously asking her to take care of a baby when she was lost in an unfamiliar wood with very little supplies?

The baby shifted in her sleep, so Tetra lowered her voice so as to not wake her up. “What is so important about this child that you had to drag me across time?”

Nayru looked up at the out-of-place stars. “This child is the daughter of the Hero of Legend. A hero from a time very removed from your own.” Tetra ran through all the names of the heroes Link introduced her to. There had been no Hero of Legend. So either this goddess was lying, which was a very plausible theory, or he must have joined up with them after they left her and Link’s time.

The goddess gave her a harsh look that made her take a step back instinctively and reach for her sword. She spoke urgently to Tetra.

“You must take her to where the sea is farthest from the ocean.” Again with that damn riddle that made no sense. “But no sooner than when the heroes have defeated the shadow. Until then, you must do everything in your power to make sure this girl is not reunited with her father. If he knew she was alive it would only divert his focus away from this quest.”

What?

_ What _ ?

Was this goddess being serious right now? Tetra felt sick to her stomach. This girl’s dad didn’t even know she was alive? What was going on here? Last she heard the heroes were chasing a shadow that was making all the monsters a bit harder to fight. Why were the goddesses getting involved in something as trivial as this? And to take a baby away from her father?

A cold chill ran down her spine and she swallowed hard. Her voice shook but not from fear. Fury boiled her blood and she was sure the goddess knew it.

“What do you mean ‘divert his focus away from his quest’?”

The goddess clicked her tongue in disappointment. “You are young still, so I must overlook your innocence.” Tetra’s eye twitched but she miraculously was able to keep her mouth shut.

“That child was nothing more than a mistake, but one that cannot be undone I am afraid.” Tetra flinched at her words. A mistake. Clearly this girl’s father didn’t think so or the goddess wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to keep her from him. “We knew the shadow had been planning something for quite a while now. Everything was proceeding as it should. He gathered almost all the heroes across the ages except one.”

Nayru’s voice grew bitter. “The Hero of Legend. The child had so much potential to be one of the greatest heroes in the history of Hyrule. We spent countless years preparing him, honing his skills. The island was only ever meant to be another adventure to give him the experience of humility. To show him that his power was still limited to that of a normal Hylian. To show him that loss was acceptable.”

Tetra’s eyes grew wider with each word the goddess said. Her heart pounded in her chest. She was afraid to know what they did to the hero on the island. Loss was  _ never _ acceptable. Not when it came to people’s lives.

The goddess scoffed. “Of course, the Windfish had gotten involved. He interfered and ruined all of our careful planning. So I took it upon myself to fix things as best I could.”

“What are you saying?” Tetra couldn’t bring her voice above a whisper. “Fix things  _ how _ ?”

When the goddess of wisdom looked down on her, Tetra felt as small as a bug in her presence. “Who do you think whispered in the boy’s ear to leave the child with the nursemaid? Leaving her unprotected for the shadow to steal her away? She was meant to stay in that dark place until the heroes brought the shadow to his knees. That is how these things are done. This is how they are supposed to be. You should know, you’ve been in the same situation before.

“Of course, then my sister had to get involved. Freeing her before the right time. Well, she should never have involved herself in the mess to begin with. The boy would have left the island without ever knowing had she not given the girl the courage to tell him. By him staying on that island for months longer than he should have, he threw every plan out of whack even further.”

Tetra wanted the goddess to stop talking. She didn’t want to hear any more of this.

“He would have joined with the heroes originally and this matter might have been dealt with by now.”

She shook her head firmly and held the baby closer to her as if to protect her from the goddess. “You can’t be serious. She’s just a baby!”

“A child that should never have existed in the first place!”

Tetra flinched at the volume Nayru shouted. The baby jolted awake and looked up at her with big brown eyes that reminded her of Link’s and she couldn’t look away.

“And now you are going to hide the girl away. Listen to me, my child. Keep her away from the heroes, I don’t care what lengths you go to, just do as I command. This is what is wisest. This is what is best.”

Tetra didn’t give a response, which angered the goddess. She didn’t care if it was the wisest option, it was still wrong of her to separate the girl from her father.

“Do you understand me, Princess Zelda? Keep this child away from the Hero of Legend.”

Tetra forced herself to nod even though she wanted to do nothing but scream. What kind of sick game was this goddess playing? Children belonged with their parents no matter the situation.

She thought back to her few precious memories of her own mother. How she captained her ship with a devious smirk but would always tuck her into bed at night with a gentle smile.

Children belonged with their parents. This goddess who had forsaken her home had no power over her. If she wanted an obedient dog, she chose the wrong person because even though she nodded her assent a fire was lit inside her.

_ The goddess can screw off so don’t worry, little girl. This pirate captain is going to return you to your dad even if it’s the last thing I do. _

**Author's Note:**

> Haha, well you made it this far. I guess I should apologize for the latest cliffhanger I left you on. (yo, I'm actually not that sorry for this one :3 ) For a story that was supposed to be small this turned out to be way bigger than I could have anticipated.  
> I have had so much fun writing this and I guess I'd forgotten how fun writing could be. You all have been wonderful and sticking by me as I find new ways to mentally hurt Legend.  
> I love writing so much because I'm able to make people feel things happy or sad. Someone told me one of the chapters had them bluescreening and I had such a sense of accomplishment at that.
> 
> Have I mentioned how much I love you guys? I mean, you signed on for some Legendad fluff/angst and I've taken you on a ride of emotions. 
> 
> Fun things in the future of this fic fun things :)
> 
> I could have never imagined this story being this successful and it's all thanks to you guys <3
> 
> Still writing my book. My characters are annoying me though so I haven't touched it in days
> 
> EDIT: my tumblr is mlnovaoff and Instagram is @mlnovaofficial but I haven't posted anything to that one yet. Since some people have expressed interest in the book I'm writing I have a summary posted on my tumblr now.


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